


Mistletoe

by Dantikat



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff, Love Confession, Romance, Whiterose, ruby and weiss being cute and unsure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-17 02:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13649433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dantikat/pseuds/Dantikat
Summary: Weiss is alone at Beacon for Christmas break, as the rest of Team RWBY has left to spend the holidays with their families. Ruby, however, finds out that Weiss has planned to stay at Beacon, alone, for the break, and intervenes herself to make sure that her teammate and partner isn't without love for Christmas.





	1. Chapter 1

Weiss sat at the window in Team RWBY's dorm, staring out at the front yards of Beacon as snow fell lightly from the sky. There was already a pretty thick covering of snow on the ground, yet it seemed like it'd never end. Around her, the room had been decorated, thanks to Ruby with a little help from both Yang and Nora.

Small white snowflakes hung from the ceiling on glittering cords, and a dark green wreath, entwined with red, hung on the back of the door. Red and green streamers were wrapped around the bottoms of both Ruby and Yang's beds, lined with Christmas lights that flashed red, green, and white.

Next to Weiss' desk, sat a large Christmas tree that Yang had brought in. It was wrapped in red, yellow, black, and white streamers, decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments of different sizes. Ruby had personally made three different ones for each member of her team out of clay, and Weiss, Blake, and Yang had teamed up to make one for Ruby.

Blake's was a black cat with a white ribbon around its neck, Yang's was a yellow flaming heart, and Weiss' was a white snowflake with a light blue back. Ruby's was a large red rose, the stem wrapped with black, white, and yellow ribbons. On the tree, it sat closest to the star, and the other three were spread out underneath it. Weiss' directly under it, Yang's on the right, and Blake's on the left. When they'd first set the tree up, the girls had sat down around it, exchanged gifts, and ate milk and cookies. Weiss had felt at home.

Now, the day before Christmas, the dorm was empty. Blake had gone home to celebrate with family, and Yang and Ruby had done the same thing.

Weiss, however, had decided to stay at Beacon. Her family wasn't exactly festive, and the fun memories she'd made just before her team had left would only serve as a painful reminder.

Sighing, Weiss got up from the chair at the window and made her way over to her bed, where she promptly sat down. She had to make sure to tilt her head as she sat, lest she hit her head on the edge of Ruby's bunk. She wore a white skirt, light blue leggings with white knee-high boots on under, and a light blue sweater to match.

Sitting there, Weiss reached across to the bookshelf between the beds and grabbed a simple, silver picture frame from on top of it. The picture was of Team RWBY, just after they'd come back from a dangerous Grimm hunting mission. Ruby had scars all along her face and arms, Yang's entire right arm was in a cast and her left shoulder was bandaged heavily. Blake's forehead was bandaged up beneath her hair, and Weiss' hair was unkempt, sticks and twigs sticking out at odd angles. The scar over her left eye had been reopened due to a hard hit she took, evident by the swelling around her eye, the redness of the cut, and the blood down her left cheek.

Despite all their injuries and what they looked like, all the girls were smiling. It had been a successful mission. Yang was out of the infirmary in a week, and Weiss was out in two days. Those two days, however, Ruby had refused to leave the girls' bedside. She insisted that it was her fault that the scar had been reopened by not being a good enough partner and watching out for Weiss like she was supposed to. Weiss had tried to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that Weiss herself was at fault for not being as vigilant as she should have been, but Ruby refused to listen. In the end, Weiss conceded defeat and allowed Ruby to take care of her, even after she'd left the infirmary.

Weiss set the picture frame back down and hugged her arms. Even now, mere hours after Ruby and Yang had left, her heart was beginning to ache at just how lonely her week would be. She steeled herself and stood up, stuffing her scroll in her pocket, and left the room, shutting the door behind her. She quickly made her way down to the dining hall to make herself a cup of coffee. As she did so, she realized just how quiet the room was. It had probably never been this quiet since the year started.

There were a few other people there, Ren and Nora who sat further back in the room than usual, and a few other first years who Weiss didn't know. She refused to look in any of their directions and took her coffee and left the hall, quietly walking back to her dorm. On the way there, she stopped at one of the long windows that lined the hall and stared out at the snow. Nobody was outside, which was to be expected. No one wanted to be out in that cold, maybe except for Ruby, but she wasn't at Beacon. Weiss smiled as she began to picture what Ruby would say if she were still there.

'Mandatory team meeting!' she would call out. Yang would poke her head out from atop her bunk. Blake would pull her nose from her book and look up, and Weiss would turn away from her desk and the current studying she was doing to listen. 'I order us to go out and enjoy the snow today!' Ruby would continue. She'd drag them all out and they'd make snowmen, snow angels, and even engage in the occasional snowball fight with Team JNPR.

Weiss would complain every second of the way, but at the end, she'd find that she'd enjoyed the day as much as possible. They'd all go back inside, have hot chocolate, and Ruby would fall asleep first, her head always on Weiss' shoulder...

Her heart began to ache once more and she briskly walked away from the window, taking a sip of her hot coffee to steel her nerves. Her brisk walk slowed to a halt as she neared team RWBY's dorm, as she noticed that the door was left slightly ajar. Not enough for anyone to really notice, but Weiss did. She was sure she had shut the door completely behind her. Sighing and blaming her frayed nerves, she quietly walked back into the room.

At a first glance, nothing was really out of place. Both Yang and Blake's beds were made completely, as Blake had forced Yang to make her bed before the both of them had left. All of their things were in place how they should have been. Weiss' bed was completely neat as well, sans for the bit of ruffle where she had sat earlier. Truly, nothing was out of place glancing at it.

However, Weiss quickly noticed the one thing out of place; the pair of red bags sitting next to the door. Ruby's bags. Weiss raised her eyebrows in confusion. That didn't make any sense, Ruby and Yang had left earlier that morning!

Quietly setting her mug down on her desk, Weiss walked around to her bed and stood on the tips of her toes to peer over onto Ruby's bed. And sure enough, there she was. Ruby was lying on her back, her scroll in both hands and earphones over her ears. She hadn't heard Weiss enter, but she clearly saw her looking up onto her bed. Ruby's eyes widened in realization, and in a flash of rose petals, she tackled Weiss in a hug, throwing the both of them to the floor.

"Weiss! I was so worried when we left, you looked so depressed, and then Nora texted me and told me you were still here after the airships left and I-" Ruby's rambling was halted as Weiss gently pushed a finger up against her lips. Weiss pulled the both of them to their feet, pulled Ruby's arms from around her neck, and went over to shut the door quickly. Ruby bounced on her heels, worried silver eyes following Weiss' every movement. She wore a black and red layered skirt, black leggings and black shin-high boots underneath and topped with a simple black and red striped sweater with her cape clasped around her neck, as usual.

"Ruby Rose." Weiss stated, eyeing the girl with crossed arms.

"Th-that's me?" Ruby replied, shooting Weiss a sheepish grin as she did.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss asked, her anger melting away as soon as she saw the look in Ruby's eyes. Ruby, who wasn't prepared for anything less than a scolding, began stuttering over her words.

"W-well I wanted to...I-I thought you would...I-I didn't want to leave you alone for the break," She managed to get out, completely ignoring the fact that it took her three separate tries to get her words out. "I thought you'd be going home, but when Nora said you were still here...I rushed back to stay with you!"

Weiss' eyebrows furrowed in confusion. On one hand, Weiss was touched that Ruby would go so far to make sure that she wasn't alone. On the other hand, she was furious that Ruby had sacrificed staying with her family. She decided to focus on the furious.

"Ruby. Christmas is a time where you're supposed to be with your family, with people you care about and people you love!" She exclaimed, grabbing one of Ruby's shoulders as she spoke. Not too hard, but just enough to get her point across. "Why would you sacrifice any of that just to be here with me?!"

Ruby simply smiled and removed Weiss' hand from her shoulder, grasping it in between the both of hers. "I didn't sacrifice any of that! I care about you, Weiss, and I'd like to think that you care about me! There's definitely some love in there too." She grinned at Weiss, whose eyes were currently stuck to the ground.

"But..but your family...?" Weiss asked, refusing to meet Ruby's eyes. Ruby smiled in response.

"Yang called our dad and explained the situation! He's fine with my staying for the break if it's to help a friend!' She replied happily.

Weiss looked back up to Ruby, her eyes brimming with tears, and threw her arms around Ruby's neck in a tight hug. Ruby faltered for a moment, but quickly reciprocated, clasping her hands together behind Weiss' back. It wasn't very often that Weiss cried, and it was even rarer that she cried openly and in front of people. As it was now, though, she didn't have a care in the world. Tears fell from her eyes, tracing their way down Weiss' cheeks and then falling onto the soft fabric of Ruby's hoodie. Ruby held her close with one hand and rubbed small circles on her back with the other, keeping quiet and just enjoying the embrace as Weiss cried into her shoulder.

A minute or so later, Weiss was fresh out of tears, though her eyes were still red and puffy. She leaned away from the hug, just enough so that she could see Ruby's face and smiled.

"Th-thank you, Ruby...I thought that...," Her voice frayed and she shook her head, opting to just place her head back on Ruby's shoulder. "No, it doesn't matter. Just...thank you...for coming back."

Ruby smiled and patted Weiss' back before pulling the both of them to Weiss' bed and sitting down. Weiss immediately pulled her legs up to her knees, letting go of Ruby just to hug her legs instead. Ruby sat next to her, their shoulders brushing against each other, and rested her head on Weiss' shoulder, shoving her hands into her hoodie's pocket. The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Weiss spoke up.

"Ruby..?" She asked skeptically, glancing over at her as the girl stirred.

"Yea Weiss?" She responded, sitting up and looking at Weiss. Weiss looked back, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Why...," Her voice faltered, and she shook her head again. Steeling herself, she dropped her legs to the floor again and turned fully to look Ruby in the eyes. "How...how can you care so much?"

Ruby tilted her head, an eyebrow raising in question. "Do you mean...about you?" Weiss nodded her head. "Well, it's not very hard!" She laughed at the end of her sentence, issuing a glare from Weiss. Ruby cleared her throat.

"What I mean is...it'd be harder not to care. You're always helping me study, making sure I don't get too far behind in classes, You're always there to help me whenever I ask for it, you're always willing to listen whenever I have a problem that I can't talk to Yang about," Ruby stared into Weiss' eyes as she spoke, breaking away occasionally to collect her thoughts. "You're smart, you can fight really well, and you're like, really pretty..." Her voice faltered and her face took on the same tone of red as her cape. She cleared her throat.

"L-Like I said. It'd be harder not to care, Weiss. You're such a good partner, and I couldn't ask for a better one." Ruby ended. A blush crept it's way up Weiss' neck, and she looked down at the bed to steel her nerves. She had begun to realize that she'd grown dependent on Ruby's optimism on a daily basis. The few hours without her had almost been too much for Weiss to handle. Now that Ruby was back, she didn't want her to leave. Weiss sighed.

"I...I don't deserve this. I-I've done nothing but yell at you since we met! And you...you still just..care, so much.." Weiss said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears again. Ruby pulled her into another soft hug, placing her cheek on the top of Weiss' head amongst the garden of luscious ivory tresses.

"You yell so much because you care! Or, that's how I think of it anyway. Every time you yell at me for slacking on my work, it just means that you care about my grades and care about me in general! I like to think of it as a good thing!"

Weiss sniffled and pulled herself out of Ruby's embrace to reach forward and flick her forehead, Ruby jumping and pouting in response. Weiss greeted it with a smile.

"Y-you're a dolt, you know that?" She stated. Before Ruby could respond, Weiss leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on Ruby's cheek, pulling back as all the heat in her body rushed to her face. There's definitely some love in there too, Ruby had said. Maybe Weiss was interpreting it wrong, but if she wasn't...

"Ruby...I-I'm asking a lot of questions, I know, but...what did you mean? Th-that love thing, that you said.." Weiss asked skeptically. This was unknown territory. She had come to terms with her feelings, and the idea that Ruby didn't feel the same, quite a bit ago, and as such pushed it to the back of her mind. However, she was in a vulnerable state. That and...what Ruby said had made her think quite a bit.

Maybe it was Weiss' imagination, but Ruby's face seemed to shoot up another shade of red. She fumbled with the edge of her cape for a bit before getting up and walking over to the Christmas tree. She took Blake's ornament, the black cat, and took her cape off. Pointing to her cape, specifically the hood, she said; "This is a bag, okay?" Weiss nodded, unsure of where exactly Ruby was going. She dropped the cat into the hood, or the 'bag', and then upturned it, letting the cat fall back into her hand. She looked back at Weiss, an eyebrow raised expectantly.

"I...I don't get it, Ruby, I'm sorry." Weiss finally said. Ruby groaned and repeated the gesture, putting the cat in the bag and letting it fall out again. Weiss didn't pick up the notion.

"I-I just mean that...y'know, looks like the cat's out of the bag?" She stated, a nervous smile stuck to her face. Weiss' mouth took on a simple 'o' shape as she suddenly understood. Then she exclaimed; "Oh!" once she realized what that meant.

"S-so you...you...," Weiss stuttered with her words, not being able to bring herself close enough to saying what Ruby was insinuating. Ruby swung her cape back on and stuck Blake's ornaments back onto the tree. Then, in a bout of confidence, she walked back to Weiss and knelt in front of her, nodding her head as a bead of sweat ran its way down the side of her face.

"Y-yes, Weiss. I...," She faltered out again, her face dropping into another shade of red. "I-I love you, Weiss. I really do, you just...t-try so hard to make me better than I am and just...," She sighed, her voice shaky and quivering. "N-no one else does that for me and I...I can't thank you enough."

Weiss' face took on several shades of red one after the other; peach, rose, magenta, and then tomato red. Sure, scenarios like this had run through her head, but she had come to terms with the fact that it would never happen. Now that it was, she didn't know how to react.

Ruby looked up at her expectantly, her eyes full of question, though she stayed quiet. In her head, several thoughts were running amok. What if her confession ruined her friendship with Weiss? What if Weiss didn't feel the same way, but wanted to try and be friends? What if Weiss didn't want anything to do with her after this? What if...What if Weiss hated her for it? The thoughts alone almost made her shiver, but she steeled herself and fought it out instead.

Suddenly, hands encircled her neck and pulled her closer. Weiss fell to her knees in front of Ruby and pulled her into a tight, soul-crushing hug that rivaled Yang's own bear hugs. Ruby was taken aback but weakly hugged back, confused on what this could've meant. Speculations ran through her head until she heard Weiss' deathly quietly whisper of; "I-I love you too, Ruby.."

Tears began to form in the crevices of Ruby's eyes and she tightly brought her arms up, hugging Weiss around her waist and burying her face in Weiss' shoulder. Out of all the speculations and theories and ideas that ran through Ruby's head, that was one that she didn't even think of, the one that she thought would never even be a possibility. The thought that Weiss would feel the same way was...drat, what would Weiss say? Preposterous, that was the word. it was preposterous.

After a minute where the both of them simply shed tears into the other's shoulders, they eventually pulled back and stared at each other for a moment. Ruby had failed to realize how beautiful Weiss' eyes were. Likewise, Weiss had never seen how enticing Ruby's eyes were. Another minute or so passed before the both of them decided to stand up. Weiss' coffee had long since grown cold, and Ruby admitted that she was a bit hungry. Together, they walked up to the door, where Weiss reached back to grab her mug and Ruby looked up at the ceiling for no real reason.

Weiss retrieved her mug and went to step out of the door, but Ruby took a hold of her hand, keeping her in place. Weiss looked back, confused, and followed Ruby's line of sight up to the ceiling.

Hanging above the door, was a small green, red, and white plant. A mistletoe. Weiss remembered that Yang had hung it there to try and catch people off guard when they were entering the room. So far, however, she had only ever managed to catch both herself and Blake with it. Blake hadn't been very happy and Yang had to spend the night in the infirmary.

Now, both Weiss and Ruby stood underneath it together. A line of blush ran across Weiss' face as she felt Ruby cup her cheeks and pull her closer. She didn't it fight it, however, and she may have closed the rest of the distance herself until she was met with the sensation of soft lips upon her own.

The tilt of their heads came naturally, and Weiss' lips moved in tandem with Ruby's, her empty hand straying to the other girls' waist and settling there. When they finally pulled away, both their faces bored a matching line of bright red blush, as well as dumb smiles plastered onto their faces. Suddenly, Ruby giggled and buried her face into the crook of Weiss' neck. Her breathing down her skin made Weiss shiver, but she made no effort to move her at all.

"What's so funny?" Weiss asked, keeping her mug a bit far off to avoid any unwanted spills. Ruby hummed in content before peering up at Weiss through strands of her own hair.

"This is...the best Christmas present ever!" Ruby replied, darting up from where she was resting to plant a brief, chaste kiss on Weiss' cheek before pushing the door open and stepping out, grabbing Weiss' empty hand and pulling her out with her. Weiss merely smiled and followed her out, entwining their fingers and shutting the door to their dorm behind them before Ruby lead her off to the dining hall.

Maybe her week stuck at Beacon wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be...


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss made her way into the dining hall again. Most of the people from before had already dispersed, though some were still there. Ren and Nora were still sitting together at the back, Nora with her head on the table and Ren rubbing her back with one hand and reading a book with the other. If the numerous empty plates on their table were any indicator, Nora probably ate herself into a food-coma.

Like before, Weiss brewed herself a simple mug of coffee. Unlike before, however, this time she had a bundling ball of energy wrapped in a red cloak and rose petals darting around her excitedly. Weiss kept her composure cool, though inside she was just as, if not more, excited as Ruby. Her usual icy demeanor was gone, replaced in favor with an air of heated serenity, and Ruby seemed to pick up on it.

"Weiss, we're gonna be here for a week!" She exclaimed, halting her rambunctious movements to pause at the aforementioned girl's side. Weiss looked over at her, a small smile on her face. "What should we do first?"

Weiss sighed and took hold of her coffee mug, bringing it up to her lips in a slow, short drink. Over the rim of the mug, she could still see Ruby bouncing happily on her feet. Once she brought the mug back down, she tilted her head in Ruby's direction.

"Maybe we can just relax for a while?" She offered, raising an eyebrow as she did. Ruby seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding enthusiastically and grabbing Weiss' empty hand.

"Mhm! Whatever you want, okay Weiss?" Ruby replied. A blush ran across Weiss' face as her mind wandered without her permission. She quickly reined in her thoughts and nodded mutely. Ruby grinned, and in a flash of red and rose petals, Ruby dashed out of the dining hall with Weiss in tow. Across the hall, Ren watched the two girls as they left. He raised an eyebrow, but a groan from Nora brought him back to the problem at hand. He sighed, though a smile slipped to his face as he continued to massage her back. Whatever Weiss and Ruby were up to was their business. Ren would feign ignorance if needed and pretend he didn't see anything.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few minutes later, Weiss and Ruby were sitting back in Team RWBY's room on Weiss' bed. Weiss had her back up against the headboard, and Ruby sat on her right side, her head resting on the other girl's shoulder. Weiss had her mug of coffee in her left hand, the right grasping onto Ruby's hand, their fingers entwined.

Despite the fact that they were completely alone, Weiss was still embarrassed to a certain degree. Before, she'd had her mindset to believe that Ruby wouldn't reciprocate her feelings. Then, just minutes ago, Ruby confessed to loving her, the same way Weiss had loved her, and the two had become...something. Weiss wasn't sure about that part yet. There was that, then what Ruby had told her moments ago. 'Whatever you want, okay?'

Weiss almost groaned in frustration. She didn't know what she wanted. Half an hour ago, what she was doing now-holding hands with Ruby in a show of love-wouldn't have even been a fraction of a thought. She was, at the least, confused on what she should do, or if she should do something at all.

She liked having things laid out, like files that she could organize and move around at will permitted that the situation granted it. Now, there was nothing. It was like a room full of fans, blowing her files all around while she stood in the center of the room, completely helpless and with no way to gather her thoughts. Weiss hated feeling helpless.

A sudden tug on her sleeve dispelled her from her thoughts, and she turned to identify the perpetrator. Ruby was looking at her with big, concerned eyes, her mouth pulled into a tight frown. Weiss frowned herself at that. She didn't want to see Ruby without a smile on her face.

"Are you okay, Weiss? You looked really upset.." She said, tilting her head in worry. It hadn't even occurred to Weiss that she'd been making any faces at all. She quickly turned to place her mug down, next to the picture frame on the bookshelf, and then turned to Ruby.

"I'm...fine, I suppose. Just that, I've been thinking...a lot, actually," She said, a blush beginning to creep it's way up her neck. Ruby leaned forward a bit, though her eyes were still filled with concern.

"About...us?" She asked skeptically, finishing off Weiss' sentence. Weiss let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and nodded slowly.

"Yes. About..us," Gods, it sounded so weird coming from her mouth. But, along with the weird feeling, it felt..right, in a sense. Like it was meant to be. Weiss shook the thought from her head and continued. "I just...I don't know what...I-I'm not very...ugh.." Weiss cast her eyes downward, inspecting the blanket beneath them. Why was it so hard to just talk?!

Ruby reached up and took hold of Weiss' other hand with her own, offering Weiss a small smile as she did.

"Y-you don't know what to do, right?" She asked, leaning down to catch a glimpse of electric blue eyes. Weiss looked up slowly, immediately catching sight of two beautiful silver orbs looking at her. Her face burned with blush, but she fought and forced herself not to look away.

"Yes! I-I mean, I don't, no...," She started. Then, she looked back up at Ruby and gripped her hands tighter. "And I hate that! I don't enjoy not knowing what to do! I just...ugh, I can't think.." She slumped her shoulders, sweat beading its way down her forehead. She felt Ruby grip her hands and she looked up once more, just to see the girl grinning sheepishly.

"Th-that's okay, Weiss! T-truth is, I don't know either..," Ruby's eyes fell for a moment, but then she looked back up, her smile bigger than before. "But that's just a part of the fun! Figuring it out together." She nodded matter-of-factly.

Weiss stared at her, unsure of what to say exactly. So, instead of speaking in words, she spoke in actions. Weiss let go of Ruby's hands, only to throw herself forward and pull the slightly-smaller girl into a tight hug. She felt Ruby's arms lace around her waist tightly and reciprocate the hug, and Weiss sighed happily.

They sat that way for a minute or so until both girls pulled away. Weiss' face was slightly pink, and a large smile inhabited her face. Ruby's was as red as her cape, her usual beaming grin shining on her face. They laced their fingers through one another's once more, squeezing appreciatively.

"Together..?" Weiss said skeptically. Ruby nodded and leaned in to peck her on the lips. As she pulled away, Weiss darted forward to continue the kiss, tilting her head off to the side as she did. Ruby was surprised at first, but she quickly melted into the embrace, kissing back with fervor. When the two finally pulled away, Ruby grinned from ear to ear.

"Together!" She confirmed with another nod. A sound somewhere between a sigh and a whimper slipped through Weiss' lips before she smiled back at Ruby. Together, the girls laid down on Weiss' bed, this time with Weiss' head on Ruby's shoulder, and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The first thing that came to her mind when Ruby woke up was that she was warm. Not unbearably hot or anything of the such, but warm. Much warmer than she should have been in the middle of the winter.

Her eyes creaked open, strands of her own black and red-tipped hair clouding her vision. She brought one hand up to sweep them from her face and caught sight of the bottom of her own bed.

That doesn't make any sense, She thought. Does that mean I'm in Weiss' bed?

Suddenly, all the events that had gone on before she fell asleep popped back into her head, as if they'd just taken a five-minute break. Ruby glanced down to her left and spotted Weiss curled up on her side, her face buried deep into the crook of Ruby's own neck. One of the girl's arms looped over Ruby's stomach and wrapped its way around her waist. Ruby's left arm was around Weiss, resting on her left arm and entangled up in the girl's vibrant, white tresses. The tiara Weiss usually wore to keep her ponytail up had come loose and hung loosely from a section of her hair. The rest of it spilled out around her head, covering both their arms and a bit of both their torso's.

Ruby smiled and ran her hand through Weiss' hair. It was soft and velvety, almost like silk. She instantly wondered if Weiss would ever let her braid her hair, but the thought was pushed out of her head as she felt her stomach rumble.

Groaning, Ruby sat up as slowly as she could and separated herself from Weiss, pushing a pillow from her own bed into position so not to throw her off. Now that she was standing, Ruby reached into her pocket and fished out her scroll, checking the time. It was around breakfast time, and Ruby was surprised to see that they had slept away the rest of their first day of break.

She stretched, made sure she had all her clothes-most importantly her cape-on, and then started to wake Weiss up before she got an idea. She thought on it for a moment, solidifying out her choices and then, with a quiet snap of her fingers, she inched her way out of the door and left it slightly ajar before darting off down the hall. Weiss was gonna love her surprise.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sunlight peeked through the curtain and shone directly onto Weiss' face. She groaned in her sleep and pulled a pillow up over her face, though by then she was already awake. Sighing in discomfort, Weiss sat up, letting the pillow fall to the floor as she did. Her hair was let out of its ponytail, as she usually did when she slept, but she still had on the same clothes as before.

Her memories immediately refreshed themselves and she gasped aloud, gazing out the window and then checking the time on her scroll. They had slept an entire day away! She was about to turn around to wake up Ruby, but then she realized that Ruby was already gone. In her place was an extra pillow, no doubt one from Ruby's bed.

Sighing, Weiss pushed herself back up onto the bed, putting her back against the headboard, and grabbed Ruby's pillow. She held it close to her chest and buried her face in it. Like she'd expected, it smelled like Ruby. Her strawberry-scented shampoo, her natural smell, and faint chocolate chip cookies. Weiss brought it closer to her face to hide the blush creeping over her cheeks and inhaled deeply. She would wait for Ruby-wherever she was.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ruby balanced the food tray on her hands as she walked as fast as she could back to the dorm. She had decided to treat Weiss to breakfast in bed! A little corny, sure, but even the smallest actions could show how much you care! Or so Ruby kept telling herself. A small part of her was worried that Weiss would laugh at how corny it was.

No, she would never do that! Ruby thought. Sure, Yang would, but Weiss? Highly unlikely.

She finally neared Team RWBY's dorm, and she slowly kicked the door open. It was a good thing she left it slightly open or she'd have to fiddle and try and get her scroll out, possibly ruining Weiss' surprise in the first place! Ruby smiled at how far ahead she had thought. Nothing would ruin the surprise.

Ruby walked into the dorm and, using her foot, kicked the door shut behind her. She looked over to Weiss' bunk to find her sitting up against the headboard and hugging the pillow Ruby had put in her place. Ruby cooed in adoration under her breath and walked quietly over to Weiss' bed. Just as soon as she got next to it, she plopped down onto it, making sure to keep the food tray steady, and sending a ripple of movement through the mattress.

Weiss immediately looked up, her grip on the pillow lessening a bit.

"Ruby?" She asked, her voice a little hoarse. She cleared her throat and then spotted the food tray in the girls' arms. "What is...What's this?" She asked.

Ruby grinned and set the food tray down over her own knees. "Breakfast in bed! I-I thought I'd bring you some food up from the dining hall so that you didn't have to move!"

Weiss smiled in return and pushed the pillow in her hands off to the side. "I..thank you, Ruby. I appreciate it." Weiss replied, shifting until one of her own pillows sat between her back and the headboard. Ruby then placed the food tray over her legs and shot her another grin. Ruby had brought her up a plate of eggs, bacon, pancakes with a light syrup glaze, and a mug of coffee off to the side. Weiss was surprised, and very very happy, to see that Ruby went through so much work to bring her food. She felt a blush crawling its way across her face, but she paid it no mind as she picked up her fork.

However, a thought struck her and she stopped before beginning to eat. She looked back up at Ruby and raised an eyebrow.

"Ruby, have you eaten yet?" She asked. Ruby's grin turned sheepish, and she brought a hand up to rub the back of her neck. Weiss straightened out her back and glared at her.

"Ruby," She started, gazing up at the girl. "Have you eaten yet?" She asked again, sternly this time. Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but when she saw the look in Weiss' eyes, she hung her head and shook it 'no'.

Sighing, Weiss reached out and touched her cheek. Ruby looked up immediately, a look of confusion passing through her eyes.

"Go get the chair from my desk. We'll eat together, okay?" Weiss told her, a small smile spreading across her lips as she did. Ruby smiled, and then said smile elongated into a grin. Nodding her head feverishly, Ruby dashed off in a spray of rose petals and grabbed the chair, bringing it back and setting it down next to Weiss' bed in an instant. She quickly sat down, but then frowned at the food tray.

"I-I only brought one fork up.." She murmured. Weiss tilted her head and leaned up, shaking the fork in her hand in front of Ruby's face.

"And we'll both use the one fork, Ruby, really," She shot the girl a reassuring smile. "It's not a big deal. Now come on, before the food gets cold."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ruby pushed the now-empty food tray off to the side and climbed into the bed next to Weiss, their arms automatically wrapping around one another. A satisfied sigh, sounding a bit more like the purr of a kitten, slipped between her lips as she felt Weiss' arms wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer.

Weiss laid up against the headrest, slumped over just a bit, with Ruby laying on her left shoulder. She thought about switching Ruby over to her right side but decided against it once she got comfortable. If she'd wanted to train at all, having Ruby on her dominant arm would make her sluggish. When she weighed her odds, however, Weiss deemed it well worth it.

She felt Ruby snuggle up against her shoulder and Weiss let her muscles relax, sighing as she melted into the embrace. Where she was now, she could just fall asleep happily...

"Weiss?" Ruby asked, shaking Weiss from the stupor she'd been falling into. Weiss sat up a little, turning on her side to look at Ruby. She looked worried again, but not in the same light as before. This was more...worried about something, rather than someone. Weiss raised an eyebrow and Ruby's eyes fell to the bed.

"Yes, Ruby?" She asked, gazing up into Ruby's face to try and catch a glimpse of her eyes. Ruby's hair shielded her face, but after a moment, she did look up.

"This is...th-this is good, right?" She started, gesturing a hand to the food tray and then to Weiss. "Th-this is like...what couples do?"

Weiss breathing hitched up for a moment. To hear her say that they were a couple felt...off. Like a foreign word that she wasn't quite used to yet. it took her a moment after that to realize that Ruby was worried she was doing something wrong, maybe that she wasn't doing good enough. Weiss quickly nodded, sitting up to her knees, Ruby doing the same.

"Of course it is. This is...great, Ruby! I..." Weiss hesitated. She wanted to keep going, to tell Ruby...something, anything that could've conveyed how she felt. Unfortunately, the words escaped her. She took a deep breath, steeling herself before she trusted herself to start talking again.

"I appreciate the effort you went to, not just for this, but for coming back for me in general. I..feel like I didn't make that known yesterday, and I'd like to apologize for it," Her face turned a bit red at what her mind came up with for her to say next, but she stuck to it and continued. "Know that anything you do will always be enough for me, Ruby. I...I love you for a reason."

Ruby's face hitched up as bright as her cape and she blinked tears from one eye. It'd been barely a day now and they'd shed so many tears that Ruby was sure she'd run out soon. She took one of Weiss' hands in her own and squeezed appreciatively.

"Th-thank you, Weiss, I...I'm just really confused," She ended her sentence off with a nervous laugh. She shook her head and leaned forward, resting her forehead against Weiss'. She could feel the other girl's breath on her skin, leaving a weird, tingly feeling. "But I'm prepared to try my hardest. For you."

Weiss let out a short whimper of pure satisfaction. Gods, she wanted to kiss Ruby so much right then, but she hadn't had any time to brush her teeth that morning. Morning breath was disgusting. With a sigh, Weiss settled for a short peck on the cheek before she pulled herself from the bed, holding Ruby's hand as she did.

"Well, we still have an entire day ahead of us. I'm going to go shower, then you, and we can find something to do, okay?" Weiss offered. Ruby grinned and stood up alongside her, eagerly nodding her head. A smile found it's way to Weiss' face as she grabbed her bathroom materials and walked off toward the bathroom. As she neared the door, she turned around to see Ruby standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. Sighing, Weiss put down her things and gestured Ruby forward. Ruby's grin spread out and she quickly walked over. Despite what Weiss had already established, that morning breath was disgusting, she gently cupped Ruby's cheek and pulled her in for a short kiss.

When she did pull away, her cheeks burned with blush. Ruby's were the same, and Weiss quickly pushed her back, albeit weakly, and retreated into the bathroom.

"Go, find something to do until I get out of the bathroom." Weiss said, and Ruby nodded, giving her an over-the-top salute as Weiss shut the bathroom door. Weiss' thoughts about the snow and what Ruby would want them to do from the other day came rushing back to her, and for once, she figured she wouldn't complain if Ruby had decided to take her outside. At least the other's weren't there, so it'd be alone time she'd have with Ruby, right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry for this being late. I ran into some pc problems that have only been resolved recently, hence this update being an entire day later than It was meant to be. Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy it. I'll probably update again tomorrow due to my own blunder, so look out for that.

Weiss exited the bathroom, only to find that Ruby wasn't in their dorm. She frowned, though thought nothing of it as she stuffed her dirty clothes into the laundry hamper and sat down on her bunk. Her hands instantly roamed up to her hair, which was still damp from her twenty-minute shower. It was enough of a pain to have to wash it, dealing with it afterward was just putting salt on the wound.

Sighing, and figuring she'd need to just 'man' up and do it, Weiss reached into her things and pulled out a short blue brush. There was nothing special about it, and that's why she used it all the time. Ever since coming to Beacon, the rest of her team had made sure she knew that just because she had money, didn't mean she had to flaunt it. Or at least, Blake and Ruby made sure she knew that. Yang always had extravagant ideas on what she'd do with all that money. Blake was forced to gag her on more than one occasion to get her to stop.

The memories brought a smile to her face, and Weiss, grasping her brush in one hand, began to sift through her own hair, using her fingers to pull away at the silky white tresses, and then brushing them down altogether into smooth, white bundles.

Each time she pulled her brush free, water flung from its bristles, hitting either the floor or her own bunk. Normally, she would've been a bit peeved about this, but with the idea that the faster she got ready, the more time she'd have with Ruby, drilled into her head, Weiss was a bit lenient on her own policies of neatness.

She flung her brush out from her head once more, stray water droplets splattering onto the floor as she did. A defeated sigh slipped through her teeth. Despite the fact that Ruby wasn't even in the room, Weiss was embarrassed to even be in the situation she was in. Her own arms weren't long to reach behind her head, and as such she couldn't brush her hair completely. Maybe it was time she got a bit of it cut...

The door to the dorm room flew open, skidding across the floor before coming to a full stop. In walked Ruby, her basket of bath materials in her hands. Her hair was damp, and she was dressed in fresh clothing; blue jeans and a bright red sweater with her cape over her back.

The two of them locked eyes for a moment. Ruby's eyes flashed over Weiss, taking in her wet and dripping hair and then the knots in the back, where the white-haired girl's hands couldn't reach. A smile fanned across her face, and in a flash of rose petals, her basket was on Weiss' desk, and Ruby was perched up on the bed next to her.

"Do you need help, Weiss?" She asked; big, silver eyes were focused completely on the girl. Weiss jumped. Despite the fact that she'd been around Ruby for what felt like years now, she still wasn't used to the girl just popping up next to her. She hesitated.

"Uhm, I don't know...," She started, faltering out as she did. It was true that she didn't let many people touch her hair. Much like Yang, it was apart of Weiss' pride and glory. Regularly, she would never admit to needing help but, as it was, she was stuck. That and, she did trust Ruby on an entirely different level...

Weiss cleared her throat and nodded, moving her arm around to hand the small brush to Ruby.

"Yes, please. I can't reach all the way behind my own head." She responded. Ruby beamed, clearly ecstatic, and grabbed the brush from Weiss' hand, sliding up behind her on the bed as she did. She gingerly took hold of the other girl's silky white tresses, handling them as if she was handling a bomb.

"Just the back then, Weiss?" She asked, skepticism ringing true in her voice. Weiss hesitated once more and then stiffly nodded. She could feel Ruby's weight shift around on the bed behind her, and then she felt the soft bristles of the brush running through her hair. Ruby didn't pull too hard, nor did she go at it too soft. Weiss had never seen the girl brush her own hair before, so it was a surprise to her that she was so good at it.

Weiss found herself leaning back into Ruby's touch, and she made no effort to fight it. The brunette adjusted, pivoting off to one side so that she could continue to brush as Weiss' head fell back against her chest. Ruby suddenly found herself staring down into two deep, electrifying-ly blue eyes.

She felt herself moving before she could stop it, and once she realized what she was doing, she didn't try to stop herself. Ruby leaned down to place a short, tentative kiss on Weiss' lips. It was a bit odd, seeing as one of them was sort of upside down, but it worked out, and Weiss darted back in to draw the kiss out for a few more, heartfelt, seconds before pulling away. Ruby was smiling down at her, red blush glaring across her nose and cheeks.

"I'm done now, Weiss. Are you ready to go?" She heard Ruby ask, though she was still caught up in how the light hit Ruby's eyes. They seemed to shine, to glow, and it made Weiss appreciate what she had even more.

The white-haired girl nodded mutely and pulled herself up and away from the other. Quickly grabbing her tiara from the bookshelf, she put her hair back up in its usual off-center ponytail and stood up from the bed. Ruby followed suit, bouncing up off the bed and landing next to Weiss. Now that they were standing, Weiss could see that Ruby was filled with restless energy. Her hands were in constant motion, and she refused to stand completely still, continuously spinning around on the heels of her feet or jumping up and down for no reason. Weiss' eyebrow raised slowly in question.

"Are you...do you have something planned?" Weiss asked, eyeing Ruby as the girl bounced over to the door and flung it open. She turned back and flashed Weiss a big, excited, smile before grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the dorm.

"You'll see, Weiss!" She exclaimed, rushing off down the hall in a flash of rose petals. Weiss, stuck in her grip, could only follow and hope that whatever it was didn't leave her hurting when they were done.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It seems as if the both of us have been dragged into this, Weiss."

"It seems so, Ren."

Weiss, Ruby, Ren, and Nora stood outside in the foot and a half high snow outside in Beacon's front yards. Armed with newly acquired scarves, gloves, and two wool caps for Ruby and Nora, the group of four was split down the middle. Once Weiss and Ren asked why they were outside, the two girls donned matching mischievous smiles and answered: "Two on Two snowball fight!"

Weiss was immediately against it. Ren was too, though for different reasons. Weiss didn't want to deal with getting any colder than she already was, and Ren just wanted to read. Unfortunately, the other two girls were much more assertive with their wills and made no effort to stop the games at all.

As it was now, Weiss and Ruby stood on one side, and Ren and Nora stood on the other. Both duos were standing some twenty feet away from each other, Nora and Ruby jumping with energy, and Ren and Weiss standing still, stoic, and really cold.

"Really, do we have to do this now?" Ren asked, eyes glancing over Ruby and Weiss and then toward Nora, who was looking back at him with big eyes. "Honestly, I was at a good point in my reading.."

Nora scoffed and playfully punched him in the arm. "If it was up to you, you'd be reading twenty-four seven!"

Ren nodded. "That's the point, Nora." He deadpanned, and she hit him again, just a bit harder this time.

"Exactly! I'm here to put some fun in your life!" She replied. Ren sighed, defeated and just nodded.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss were having a similar conversation.

"Must we do this? We've got to deal with the cold enough as it is already!" Weiss complained, kicking around at the snow around her feet. Ruby grinned and leaned in just a bit closer.

"Yea! We've gotta do something over this break, right?" She said. "Honestly, I'd be fine with just spending the time with you, but this is cool too!...right?" Skepticism lined her voice, and Weiss' eyebrows fell a bit in defeat.

"Yes, yes, this is...this is fine, Ruby, really," She brought a hand up to cup the other girl's cheek. "I just...honestly don't like the cold very much. But if you want to..I guess I'll play ball."

Ruby's face lit up, a grin spreading across her lips.

"Will you really? Thanks, Weiss! I promise it'll be fun, okay?" Ruby exclaimed, loud enough to draw the attention of the other two. Weiss nodded meekly. Ruby, without thinking, darted in to place a kiss on her cheek and pulled away.

Nora cleared her throat, and Ruby was suddenly very aware of the other two people she'd pulled outside.

"You two seem close." That was Ren, as monotone as ever. Ruby's face had turned as red as her sweater and cape, and she had buried her nose into Weiss' blue sweater instead. Weiss, left to fend off the stoic stare of Ren and the bubbling excitement of Nora on her own, nodded meekly.

"W-we're partners after all...y-you two are just as close." She retorted. Ren merely shook his head.

"We've known each other longer. You two seem...," He glanced at Nora, who looked just about ready to explode, and nodded. Immediately, she turned on Weiss, finishing off Ren's sentence with the excitement of a child in a chocolate factory.

"Together-together!' She exclaimed. If anyone was at Beacon over the break, they surely would've heard. Luckily, no one was, and the newly developed secret was still sort-of a secret.

When neither girl answered, Nora beamed even brighter, if possible, and jumped up to hug Ren around the neck.

"I told you it would happen! I could see it from a mile away, and did you believe me? No, of course not!" She exclaimed. She continued to rant on as Ren held a hand up in apology.

Out of nowhere, Ruby was back up, standing on her own and looking at the two in front of her, seemingly determined.

"So what about you then? You guys have known each other forever, and you're trying to tell me it isn't where we are now?" She asked. Weiss was surprised at how straightforward she was being, and apparently so were Ren and Nora. Ren's usual stoic facade was broken, and his eyes were wide with surprise. Nora's face had turned a peculiar shade of pink, and she was currently trying to make herself seem as small as possible. It proved to be a difficult task, however, as she was still hanging from around Ren's neck.

"Wh-what? R-Renny and I aren't...w-we're just...," Nora stuttered, fumbling over her words. Ren was silent, and after a moment, he sighed. Nora had long since dropped from around his neck and now stood in the snow next to him. He reached over and gripped her shoulder. She quieted down immediately and looked up at him, confusion flashing across her face.

"We don't really need to hide much of anything now, Nora. It's just Weiss and Ruby. I'm sure they won't say a thing," He glanced over at them, a thin veil of anger and wrath crossing over his eyes. Both girls nodded with as much spirit as they could muster. "..Good. We're fine then."

Nora smiled and, now free of the shackles that she and Ren had apparently placed on themselves, jumped up to sling her arms around his neck again, this time peppering his cheek in kisses.

Weiss leaned over to Ruby and half-whispered in her ear, "I guess our game is over then?"

Ruby jumped back, feigning sadness. "What? Never! I would never leave a friendly snowball fight unfinished! Come on, Weiss!"

Weiss sighed, though a smile took it's place as she bent down to pick up some snow and form it down into a ball. Once she had done that, she simply threw it in Ren and Nora's direction, bashing Nora in the cheek.

The girl in question whipped her head back to Weiss and stared daggers into her soul. Slowly extricating herself from Ren, she immediately bent down and came back up with an armful of snowballs. Weiss backpedaled, which immediately turned into a sprint, with a wild Valkyrie on her tail.

It was safe to say that Weiss didn't succeed in staying warm that day.


	4. Chapter 4

An hour or so after the great chase of Valkyrie vs. Schnee, the latter girl, accompanied by Ruby, was huddled up in Team JNPR's new dorm room. After an accident involving Yang's fiery personality and a 'miscalculation' on Jaune's part when it came to what he called 'a harmless prank, the team was forced to move to a new dorm. Fortunately, there was no clear way to pin anything on both Yang or Jaune, and the new dorm room came with a fireplace that was scarcely used.

Now, however, as the sky got darker and the air outside only got colder, Ruby and Weiss, as well as Ren and Nora, were seated in front of the fireplace on the floor, a thick blanket laid out beneath them. The fireplace roared with fire, though it was contained with metal bars crisscrossing over its entrance, and heat washed over both couples, thoroughly defrosting their frozen cores.

Ruby was sitting with her legs crossed, her sweater speckled with bits of snow as it melted off of her, and Weiss' head was laid in her lap. The white-haired girl had, when they first came back in, been shivering so hard Ruby could feel it from two feet away. As it was now, though, Weiss had been warmed up and she now laid stock-still over top the blanket. Ruby had removed her cape and cast it over the girl, in hopes that it'd warm her up faster, though now it was more just because she liked the way Weiss looked wrapped up in it.

Nora was in similar condition to Weiss. After the chase, Weiss had managed to bury the Valkyrie in an avalanche of snow using her semblance. Ren had pulled her out of the snow, and now sat with the girl's head tucked into the crook of his neck, her own body seated in his lap. Every time she breathed out, it sent tingles across his skin, but he was well versed in hiding such things. His stoic facade was far too strong.

At first, the four had been talking quite a bit. There was a moment where Ren and Weiss forced Ruby and Nora to apologize to all of them, then a point where Ren had made Weiss and Nora apologize to each other. After that, Ruby had dug into her secret cookie stash, which wasn't a secret to any of them, and shared them amongst the group. Now, the plate sat empty, save for crumbs, between the two couples on the blanket.

Weiss had fallen asleep first, her head lolling on Ruby's shoulder. Ruby had moved her so that she'd be more comfortable. Nora passed out soon after, drunk off of the fact that she was able to kiss Ren whenever she pleased now. Ren cradled her in his arms still, as he was reluctant to let her go. It was just Ruby and Ren now, and a comfortable silence fell over the two as they simply enjoyed the company that they had.

Suddenly, the silence was broken as Ren's head perked up.

"It's Christmas," He stated, slow and simple. His voice showed no hint of emotion as he spoke. "I'd forgotten what day it was after the snowball fight."

Ruby perked up at his voice, her head swiveling to meet his gaze.

"You're right," She replied. Not wanting to wake either girl up, she kept her voice low. "What with everything going on yesterday and today, I forgot too."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "You never did explain why it was that you came back. I thought I saw you leaving alongside Yang."

Ruby shrugged and raised an eyebrow in question. "Nora didn't tell you? If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have come back."

Ren simply shook his head. "She didn't tell me much of anything. I just assumed the best possible scenario," He replied. With a nod of his head toward Weiss, he said: "I figure it has something to do with her, doesn't it?"

Ruby nodded sheepishly, a small blush creeping up her neck and across her face. She rubbed at the back of her neck with her right hand, her left busy caressing Weiss' head and sailing through the silky white tresses of her hair.

"Mhm. I assumed she'd be going home for the break, like the rest of us," Ruby started out, her eyes downcast toward the face of the sleeping girl beneath her. "But as I was leaving with Yang, Nora texted me and told me Weiss was staying alone at the dorm. I told Yang and our dad and came back as fast as I could."

Her eyes shot up and latched onto Ren's, her voice growing deadly serious. "I couldn't let her stay here alone. I promised Yang that I'd do everything in my power to make sure she'd have a good break."

Ren nodded along, saving a space in his mental library for everything she told him. Once she was finished, he sighed and patted Nora on the back a bit.

"A noble reason. I can respect that," He stated calmly as he stood up. Nora's legs immediately latched themselves around his waist, and Ruby had an inkling suspicion that the girl wasn't asleep at all. Ren's other hand looped up beneath her, holding her up, and he turned around and walked over to his bed. "Make sure you live up to that promise, Ruby. There are another five days left in the break. Make the most of them."

Ruby's eyes followed him, and after he laid Nora down, he sat down on the bed next to her. He pretty much melted into the darkness of the room, as the only light in the room was coming from the fireplace. Even then, the fire was beginning to die down, though there was no actual lack of warmth in the room.

The brunette's eyes found their way to Weiss' face again, and Ruby found herself quietly scrutinizing the details of Weiss' face. The delicate contours of her jaw and cheekbones, the fullness of her lips, and the thin yet graceful lengths of her eyelashes. Ruby had long taken off the girl's hair tiara, and her long, white hair spilled out over Ruby's lap, the cape covering the sleeping girl, and the floor in some places, though not many.

Weiss' hands were clasped together underneath her head, resting just against Ruby's inner thigh. Underneath the cape that Ruby had draped over her, Weiss' legs were curled up to her chest, the tips of her boots just sticking out under the edges of the crimson red fabric.

A thought suddenly struck Ruby as she gazed down at her...girlfriend? Ugh, labels were difficult. Maybe they'd talk about it later.

How did I get so lucky? She asked herself. She knew that Weiss would criticize her for thinking that way, but it was apart of her to be skeptical. In her own eyes, she was just...her. Corny and cheesy most of the time, awkward, clumsy, over-energetic, immature...Weiss had even called her some of those if not all. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why Weiss was into her. She wouldn't complain, not at all, but it piqued her interest.

Breaking her own silence with a sigh, she shook the thoughts from her head. Bending down as much as she could, Ruby placed a small, albeit soft and delicate, kiss onto Weiss' forehead and, in a dream-like, sing-songy voice, whispered quietly into Weiss' ear: "Merry Christmas, Weiss."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To save Ruby from having to wake Weiss and then walk her all the way back to their dorm, Ren offered the two of them Pyrrha's bed for the night. Ruby thanked him an endless amount of times before gathering Weiss up, tentatively and carrying her as if she was a bomb, and laying her down on the bed. She removed the girl's shoes for her, so that she'd be more comfortable, and did the same herself before climbing into bed.

It would be an understatement to say that she drifted off to sleep. More accurately, she crashed into slumber, sleep overtaking her as soon as her head hit the pillow and as soon as her arm was wrapped around Weiss' waist. She had opted to lay behind Weiss, rather than face her, as she knew how bad her own morning breath could be. She didn't want to scare the girl away that fast.

Her dreams were filled with Weiss, the feeling of her hands entwined with Ruby's, the smell of Weiss' perfume, the sight of those electric, beautifully blue eyes, the sound of her sweet, melodic voice, and the taste of Weiss' lips upon her own...

She awoke slowly, blinking once, twice, and thrice to gain her bearings before she sat up in bed. Weiss had yet to wake up, though it seemed Ren and Nora had been up for hours already. In the small kitchenette area of their dorm, Ren and Nora sat at the table, side by side with a plethora of empty plates sitting on the table. Ren must've made pancakes, evident by the smell in the air, the almost empty bottle of maple syrup on the table, and the pleased groans escaping Nora's lips.

Ruby smiled at the two in greeting and let her attention fall back to Weiss. She was sleeping soundly, her chest rising and falling in slow intervals. She hadn't moved much in her sleep, as Ruby's arm was still clasped over her side. The only real change was that Weiss now held Ruby's hand, holding it close to her heart as she slept. Ruby's own heart did magical pirouettes and majestic leaps through hoops at the action and, not wanting to wake Weiss up, she laid back down behind the girl, taking in the smell of her hair and just listening to her breathing. It was soothing.

It was another ten minutes before the other girl stirred. Just a slight movement in her shoulders, followed by a tired groan as she finally woke up. Ruby listened on, not moving as she waited for the girl to react.

Weiss first noticed the hand she was holding, fingers entwined, up to her heart. It sent a furious blush across her face, followed only by a goofy smile. She quickly quelled the smile as she noticed the breathing against the back of her neck and, steeling her nerves, turned over to face Ruby. They continued to hold hands as the two simply drunk in the sight of the other one. Ruby's cheeks were tinted as red as the tips of her hair, and she evidently failed to conceal her happiness as her own smile was as large as life. At the sight of it, Weiss' own smile, albeit smaller, returned to her face, and the two spent a few opportune moments just watching, waiting for the other to speak.

Ruby broke the silence.

"Hello." That was it. Not a good morning, no, as she knew they had slept much longer than expected. Just a hello, a simple greeting. In that one word, however, Ruby managed to pack the most amount of love she could possibly muster. Weiss clearly heard, and maybe felt, it, and her smile grew larger.

"Hello." She replied, filling the void with her own returned love. Their eyes were locked on one another's and, in the span of a second, they both leaned forward, ending their slight movement in a short, but sweet, kiss.

Weiss pulled away first and sat up on the bed. Ruby followed, stretching her arms up high over her head as she did. Weiss yawned and looked around the room. Her eyebrow raised in question as she realized they were alone in the room.

"Where are Ren and Nora?" She asked, her head turning slowly and taking in the room. Ruby stood up and stretched out her legs, looking back at Weiss as she did.

"Oh, they went out into town. Ren decided to take Nora out on a date to the movies. He said they'd be out most of the day." Ruby replied, bending over to touch her toes and stretch more. Weiss caught sight of her...assets, and her face turned as red as Ruby's sweater.

"O-oh, that sounds...lovely." She commented, though her attention was elsewhere. She had never noticed it much before, but Ruby had clearly...grown, over the time that they knew each other.

Weiss shook her head, disgusted with herself for having impure thoughts, and stood up. "Should we go back to our dorm? I'd like to get into a new change of clothes and actually be able to start the day." Weiss said, turning and watching Ruby for confirmation. Ruby perked back up, bouncing on her heels, and stepped up next to Weiss.

"Sure! I wanna get out of these clothes," Ruby replied, gingerly plucking at her sweater as she did. "You can shower first, if you want, Weiss."

Weiss pulled her scroll from her pocket and checked the time. Just over a quarter of the day was gone already, and as she wondered over whether or not she wanted to shower first, she got an idea.

"You can go first. I have to make sure some things are in order first." Weiss replied, making her way to the door as she did. Ruby cocked her head to the side, confused at what the girl could have planned. Weiss turned back to see that Ruby hadn't moved. Smiling coyly, she extended her hand toward the girl.

"Well? We won't have all day, Ruby." She said, a laugh picking up at the end of her sentence. Ruby shook her head and smiled, her usual, large, beaming, infectious grin, and took Weiss' hand. Together, they left Team JNPR's dorm and made their way back to their own. Holding hands with their fingers entwined, the two of them felt closer than ever.


	5. Chapter 5

Two hours later, after both girls had showered and changed into a new set of clothing, Weiss and Ruby were on an airship to Vale. Weiss had done the leading and, despite how many times Ruby asked her, would not inform the other of where they were going, or of what she had planned.

Ruby was distraught, and Weiss was having too much fun deluding her to feel bad about it.

"Hmm, the movies?" Ruby asked. She had been making brash guesses since they'd left Beacon. Weiss shook her head.

"I don't really like the movies that much. Too many loud people that never stop talking." Weiss replied, actively shooting down that idea. Ruby rubbed her chin, thinking, and then snapped.

"A restaurant then! Y'know, like the fancy ones with the really complicated food names and the waiting queues that last five years!" Ruby proposed, a nervous smile on her face. Weiss tilted her head toward her, a coy smile on her face.

"If those waiting queues are so long, do you think I'd have the time to place a table reservation?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Ruby perked, clearly prepared.

"But you're a Schnee! Those people would be crazy not to put you at the top of the waiting list." She retorted, crossing her arms in smug victory. Weiss opened her mouth to reply, but found that Ruby was right. She quickly shut her mouth and held a hand up.

"You're not wrong about that, but that's not what I have planned, no." She told the girl. Ruby's smug grin fell and she groaned aloud. She gripped Weiss' sleeves, pulling herself forward until her chin rested on the other girl's shoulder.

"Please, Weiss, just tell me!" She cried out. "I can't take the suspense anymore!"

The airship stuttered to a stop, and Weiss, after undoing her seatbelt, stood up with Ruby still clinging onto her. The door to the shuttle opened, and Weiss walked out.

"Luckily for you, you won't have to guess anymore." Weiss replied, gesturing out to the giant sign that now hung above their heads, strung up between two buildings. The cloth was white, written in a bright, almost neon, teal, it read: "OFFICIAL VALE ICE RINK" and under that; "Now in Service"

Ruby's eyes lit up, her gaze jumping from Weiss to the sign, back to Weiss, and to the sign again. A beaming smile lit up her face.

"Ice skiing? How did you even know?!" Ruby cried out, clinging onto Weiss' sleeve once more. Weiss stifled a laugh, holding a hand over her face as she did.

"I saw a flyer back at Beacon, pasted on the hall of our floor," She told her, pulling the girl from her sleeve and taking her hand in her own. "I'm surprised you didn't see it this morning. It was just across from JNPR's room." Ruby intertwined their fingers immediately, stepping up and closer until her own shoulder touched Weiss'

"I was distracted this morning!" Ruby retorted, pouting as she did. Weiss raised an eyebrow, curious, and began walking forward, into town, and pulled Ruby along with her.

"Distracted by what?" Weiss asked, though she was sure she knew already. They walked past a large group of people, ambling about in front of a store, and made a right. They could already see the edge of the ice rink; the whole thing surrounded with low white walls, presumably to make sure no one fell into the snow. Ruby turned her head, her face hiking up several shades of red and pink. Weiss smiled and refused to look over at her, lest Ruby figure out that Weiss already knew.

"W-well, I was hungry...a-and you were there, and..," She droned off, looking back just to catch the hint of a smile on Weiss' face before it fell completely. She pouted once more. "..and that's a really unhealthy combination!"

Weiss grinned, which then broke into a laugh. She hid it behind her hand once more.

"Well...well," She began, still laughing just a bit. "..Maybe it isn't so bad. To be unhealthy every now and then." Ruby glanced at her, catching the mirth in the girl's eyes, and smiled.

"Maybe sometimes, but not now." Ruby responded, coming to a full stop as they got to the edge of the ice rink. It was huge, by casual standards, stretching over half of the park itself. There weren't many people on the ice itself, maybe three or four small groups all spread out across the landscape. Down to their left was a small booth, where an old man sat with rows upon rows of ice skates, all in different sizes and colors. Weiss lead Ruby over to it, and in a span of minutes, the both of them were seated on one of the many wooden benches around the rink.

Weiss had procured a brand new pair of pale blue skates, the blades on the bottom as pristine as possible. Ruby's were also new, though they'd clearly been used once or twice. Red in color, the blades were bright, though chipped near the front and the back, as if the last wearer didn't know how to skate. If that was the case, it was a complete coincidence that the current wearer didn't know how to ice skate either. She grew up in Patch, for Oum's sake, it was never cold enough to skate there.

Nonetheless, Ruby had opted away from telling Weiss, lest she think less of her for it. Instead, she waited up until Weiss got up and pushed herself onto the ice, and she remained seated at the bench, her elbows on her knees to hide how much they were shaking. Weiss didn't notice immediately. She skated around the ice, eyes closed and arms behind her back, as graceful as a swan and with the utmost elegance.

Even with her current predicament, Ruby found it very easy to just watch Weiss and be captivated all over again. She was probably the most delicate looking girl that Ruby had ever met, but she'd never bet against her. Weiss was able to hold her own against anyone in just about anything.

Sliding across the ice, dipping and turning and jumping while nearly flying, Ruby was just assured of how lucky she was to have Weiss. That all came to a crashing halt as Weiss came to a screeching stop in front of her, ice flying up and flaking across her jeans as she did.

"How come you aren't skating, Ruby?" Weiss asked, her voice full of concern. Ruby had almost never heard that tone of voice, and it made her feel bad about not telling Weiss the truth in the first place. A sheepish grin spread across her face, and Ruby shrugged.

"I-I was distracted again," Ruby said, glancing up at Weiss through strands of her own hair. She caught the smile on Weiss' lips, as well as the flush that began in her neck and spread up across her face. "..You look like you've skated a long time."

Weiss shrugged, throwing her ponytail over one shoulder as she did.

"Growing up in Atlas, where it's always cold, winter sports are common. Winter and I used to skate at home before she left, but after that I skated a lot by myself," She glanced down at the ice, and Ruby caught the sadness in her eyes. "Doing something so often eventually makes you good at it."

Weiss shrugged again and extended a hand toward Ruby. Instantly, the dam was back up and her usual expression was drawn upon her face.

"It's not important, really. Come on, Ruby. If you sit here any longer, I'll start to assume you can't skate," Weiss said playfully, ending it off with a laugh. When Ruby refused to take her hand, and simply looked up at her, embarrassment cast across her face, Weiss recoiled with understanding. "Oh my god, you can't skate."

Ruby held a hand up in response, though she didn't reply. Not immediately anyway.

"W-well, I grew up in Patch! It's always hot there, so I never really had a chance to learn, even if I wanted to!" She replied. "I-I didn't tell you outright because...i-it seemed silly, not knowing how to skate. I should've said something before we got here."

Ruby hung her head in defeat. She was certain Weiss would sigh, or chew her out and they'd go back to the dorm. Instead, she heard Weiss laughing. She looked up and saw the girl with her hand over her mouth again, and one arm wrapped around her own stomach.

Once she finally finished laughing, which left a smile on her face, she extended her hand out to Ruby again.

"I don't care much that you can't skate. It's not that big a deal," Weiss said, and Ruby took her hand. Weiss pulled the girl to her feet, her legs shaking up a storm as soon as she was standing. "Plus, it just means that I can teach you."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"All you have to do is walk, Ruby. Off the ice first, and then on the ice when you're sure you can balance yourself out." Weiss called out to her. Ruby had been attempting to walk back and forth in a straight line for ten minutes now but to no avail. She was cold, as she'd fallen in the snow multiple times, and felt even worse than before.

"I'm trying! These stupid things are like deathtraps for your feet!" She retorted, looking down at her own legs and feet. She wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that her legs were shaking viciously. Ruby groaned aloud and, while she wasn't focusing, slipped and fell into the snow again. This time, she made no effort to move and just let the cold embrace her. "How are you even supposed to do this?!" Her voice came out muffled by the snow.

Ruby just barely heard Weiss' footsteps come over to her, and she finally pushed herself up to her knees. They were walking along the stone path stretched out around the ice rink. The path itself had no snow on it, but it reached up half a foot around the path, and Ruby always fell to the side.

Weiss hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her back to her feet. Ruby complied, though she didn't do much to actually stay standing after that.

"Maybe you just need something to focus on," Weiss said, leading her over to a bench where they promptly sat down. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but after the hell she faced, Ruby melted into the bench as if it'd just saved her life. "Winter used to do that to me when I was learning. She'd put one of my toys, or something else that I cared about, at one end of the room and if I wanted it back, I had to walk to it while wearing my skates."

The brunette was barely listening, but Weiss snapped just in front of her face and the girl perked up. Weiss was standing again, and as soon as Ruby saw her, she began to walk away.

"W-wait, Weiss!" Ruby complained, but Weiss didn't stop until she was a good twenty-five feet away. Once she stopped, she briskly turned around, her arms crossed, and faced Ruby.

"Here's how we're going to do this, Ruby," Weiss started out, calling out to her from afar. "Stand up, and keep your eyes focused on me. Don't look down at your feet or you'll fall. Stay focused on me, and if you can walk over here without falling.., y-you get a treat."

Ruby failed to catch the point, and Weiss rolled her eyes, though the girl couldn't see that from so far away. "If you focus more on where you're going and not on how you're doing, it'll be easier to control your balance. You don't just stare at your feet when you're walking all the time, do you?"

Ruby shook her head. "No, but...," Weiss cut her off.

"No buts! Get up and walk right now, Ruby Rose!" She yelled, and Ruby suddenly found herself on her feet. She refused to look down, and instead, held both arms out wide at her sides like she was walking a tightrope. Keeping her eyes peeled and stuck on Weiss, she slowly began to inch her way forward. She was slow at first, pretty much at a snail's pace, but as her body got used to her walking on the skates, she picked up speed. Ruby was well aware of how hard her legs were shaking, but it got dull and she remained focusing on Weiss, standing there with the sun hitting her back that cast an otherworldly glow around her.

She caught sight of Weiss digging into her pocket for something and then coming back out with it in her hand. With the sun hitting her back, she couldn't make out what it was or what Weiss was doing with it, but after a short moment, the girl shoved it back into her pocket and crossed her arms once more. Ruby, now determined more than ever, lowered her arms just a bit and kept on walking. She was making real progress now, and finally, she was right in front of Weiss, breathing heavily with blush across her face.

"I-I did it," She said, mostly to herself, and then she said it again. "I did it!" She threw her arms up in the air, ecstatic, but tilted back in the progress. She felt herself falling again, but then Weiss caught her around the waist and pulled her back to her feet.

Now that they were closer, Ruby could see the red tint around Weiss' nose, cheeks, and the base of her neck. Across her lips, there was a certain reddish glaze that Ruby hadn't seen before. There was a chance she just hadn't noticed it before, but she was sure that it wasn't there beforehand.

Weiss pulled her a bit closer, and Ruby was surprised to note that her own legs weren't shaking anymore. Maybe her body really had gotten its own balance.

"So..," Ruby started off, casting a sheepish smile over to Weiss. "Do I get my treat now?"

There was a sudden pitch in blush across Weiss' face, but she nodded and, before Ruby could even think about it, she leaned in and kissed her. It was simple and lasted barely ten seconds. For Ruby and Weiss, however, it lasted a lifetime. Their lips moved in tandem with one another, and as Weiss pulled away, Ruby noticed something. A taste, one that definitely wasn't Weiss' but made it all that much better when they were together. It was vaguely familiar and reminded Ruby of...

"Strawberries?" She asked, bringing a hand up to touch her own lips. Weiss smiled coyly and nodded, reaching into her pocket once more to retrieve the same small item from before. Ruby could see now that it was a small tube of lip gloss. Strawberry-flavored. What made it even odder was that it was Ruby's.

"I-I found it in your things, back at the dorms before we left," Weiss explained, slipping it back into her pocket. "I figured it'd make things...i-interesting, I suppose."

The alabaster-haired girl looked away, suddenly very interested in the layout of the pavement beneath them. Ruby cocked her head to the side, though a smile lit up her face. Just the smallest of movements like that and Weiss turned from deadly serious into the most adorable thing ever.

Smiling, Ruby leaned forward to peck Weiss on the forehead. When the girl looked up, she found a beaming grin looking back at her. The girls were pretty much the same height, and as such, neither had to look very far to find the other's eyes.

"It's pretty interesting alright," Ruby ventured. She took a step back, cautious of the skates on her feet, and gestured out toward the ice rink. "How about you teach me how to skate now, alright?"

Weiss, with one arm wrapped around her stomach, relaxed. A small smile found it's way to her face, and she nodded.

"Alright then."


	6. Chapter 6

"Slowly, Ruby." Weiss chided.

"I am going slowly!" Ruby complained.

"No, you aren't, slow down!" Weiss retorted.

Ruby scoffed. "I am moving at a perfectly show paaAA-"

The end of her reply was cut off as her foot slid a bit too far forward. In an instant, she was off the ground, falling backward toward the ice. Weiss stood in front of her, arms outstretched, but made no effort to catch her. On her face, Ruby caught sight of smug victory as her behind collided with the ice once again.

She groaned her complaints but made no effort to stand up as Weiss stood over her, arms crossed. They were caught in a moment of silence before Weiss spoke up.

"I believe," She started, leaning down so that Ruby could clearly see the look of pure mirth on her face. "That I told you so."

The brunette groaned once more, falling back onto her back. She shivered at the cold, though it was more of a slight annoyance than anything.

"Ugh, I suck at this." She stated, looking up at the sun as it sailed across the sky. They'd been going at it for forty-five minutes now. Ruby had escalated quickly, going from just standing on the ice to walking on it with the aid of the low wall, and then walking on it in general. That was just about where they were stuck though. Ruby couldn't pace herself, she was too used to going as fast as she wanted, and as such moved much faster than she was ready for. Weiss attempted to slow the girl down, but Ruby was stubborn. She wouldn't listen to reason, which had led to her falling down a number of times the more they went on.

Weiss crouched over her, her balance impeccable even on skates, and smiled. A real, genuine, smile that made Ruby's heart flutter away in her rib cage.

"I told you to slow down, Ruby," Weiss commented, her voice low and filled with...was that concern? Ruby blinked rapidly. "You can be a real dolt sometimes."

Ruby pouted at the nickname, though inside, she was beaming. The name had long since lost its malice in Weiss' voice, and now it was kinda cute. She'd never say that out loud, however. No, never.

Weiss extended her hand out to Ruby for the umpteenth time that day, and Ruby took it, standing and shivering as she realized just how cold she really was. Just about everyone else at the ice rink had left, save for a woman and her daughter. At the moment, they were taking a break, sitting down and drinking what Ruby could only assume was hot chocolate. Her mind began to wander. Oh, what she'd do just for a cup of hot chocolate!

Her ivory-haired girlfriend snapped her fingers underneath her nose and brought Ruby back to life. Her eyebrows were low; concerned, possibly even sad.

"Do you not want to skate anymore?" She asked meekly, her voice low and uncertain. Sad it was, then. Ruby shook her head rapidly, though at this point speed wasn't very relevant to her anymore.

"I do, I just...," She flailed her arms around a bit for the words. "I'm just bad at it. This is gonna take forever, and I don't want to waste your time in case I still suck at it hours from now."

Weiss shook her head. "Ruby, you say that as if after today, the ice rink will up and disappear," She laughed, and Ruby was beginning to realize just how much she loved that sound. "If you want to take a break and come back tomorrow, that's fine. I'm sure even after the break, we'll have plenty of time to come back out and practice."

Ruby dropped her head, upset that she really didn't want to disappoint Weiss. When she looked back up, however, and caught the smile on Weiss' face, her spirits were lifted. Maybe a bit. She smiled back and took Weiss' hand, entwining their fingers as she did.

"Maybe I'll just take a break for now. I can go sit and just watch you instead, okay?" Ruby replied, silver eyes big with hope. Weiss hesitated, but smiled and nodded her head.

"Okay. Don't let me stay on the ice any longer than ten minutes, alright? I want to do more than just this today." She replied. Ruby nodded her confirmation and made her way over to a wooden bench just outside the rink. Before she even sat completely, she could hear the scratch of blades on ice and, as she turned to watch, she saw Weiss skirting around the edge of the rink. She had her arms tucked behind her back, one resting atop the other, and her long ponytail flowed out behind her, whipping through the air yet retaining Weiss' own grace.

In a swift movement, she turned and was skating backward. Ruby caught sight of her face and was shocked to see that her eyes were closed. Besides that, however, was a giant smile, among the size of Ruby's own smiles. Momentarily lost for breath, Ruby simply watched her. She had never seen Weiss smile that big before.

She brought her arms out from behind her back, perpendicular to her own body. Crouching low, she swerved back into the center of the rink and began to spin. Slowly at first, but as she picked up speed, one of her legs began to rise up, straight out against her body. Weiss spun faster, and she curved her leg in, to where the blade of her skate was mere inches from her own knee.

As fast as it'd started, Weiss ceased spinning and came out of her spin in a wide arc. Backwards of course. She finally stopped, coming to a skidding halt, and opened her eyes, immediately finding Ruby with them. The brunette's mouth was agape, and all she could do was flash a thumbs up. Weiss smiled again, her eyes crinkling around the edges, and started up once again. She could feel Ruby's eyes on her, never leaving, as she went around the entire rink one more time.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mmm, ice skiing was a good idea, Weiss," Ruby commented, lifting the hot mug up to take a short drink. "I might suck at it, but you're amazing!"

Weiss giggled and waved her hand nonchalantly. "It's like I said. Do something for a long time and you'll eventually get good at it," She brought her own mug up, hers filled with black coffee to Ruby's hot chocolate, and took a long dragging sip from it. "I'm sure with practice you'll be great at it, Ruby."

After skiing at the ice rink, the two had decided to eat out before they got back on the airship to Beacon. Turning their skates in, they walked for a couple of minutes until they came to a small cafe, just on the corner of the street. Weiss recognized it as the cafe that Blake usually went to, and deemed it would be fit for them to sit and relax in for a short while.

Ruby had wolfed down an entire burger and drank hot chocolate while Weiss took a salad with coffee. They had finished eating within ten minutes of being there, though they'd decided to stay an extra fifteen.

Now, they sat together on one side of their table, Ruby at the window and Weiss on the outside, simply relaxing and relishing in each other's presence.

Ruby scoffed. "Yea, after a lifetime maybe," She placed her mug back on the table and leaned back into her seat, shutting her eyes. "But if it's a lifetime spent with you, I guess I'd be willing to try it out."

A blush rose up across Weiss' cheeks, her face donning a slightly shocked expression before she simply hit Ruby on the shoulder. "Boo you, that was sappy."

Ruby simply shrugged and cracked open one eye, so that she could see Weiss' face. "It was true, though."

With that, Weiss smiled. Placing her own mug down, she adjusted herself in her seat for a bit before she leaned over and placed her head on Ruby's shoulder.

"I know it was." She replied, her voice light and carefree. Ruby sighed, hoping Weiss couldn't hear how fast her heart was beating right then. Gods, even though it was a thing that was happening and she knew it was, she could still barely believe it. Weiss, rich and proper. Ruby, common and simple. In her mind, it didn't make any sense. Ruby hated to overthink it, of course she did, but there was no way she could keep the thought from running rampant throughout her head. Fortunately, Weiss' serene voice jarred her from her thoughts. She didn't quite hear her though.

"Hm?" Ruby asked, opening her eyes to glance down at the girl. She hadn't moved, but Ruby could feel her breathing.

"I said," Weiss started, sitting up as she did to look at Ruby. "What do you think the others will say, or think, when they get back?"

"Oh...," Ruby responded, meek and quiet. She pulled herself up to sit straight in her chair. "W-well, I don't know, actually. I-I figure that'll take some...explaining.." She offered up a smile, though it was nervous. In truth, she hadn't thought about it. Surely Blake probably wouldn't care much, Yang would make jokes endlessly like always, Jaune would probably be a little distraught but not too much, and Pyrrha would be happy for them.

The issue, though, was that Ruby couldn't be sure they'd all behave that way. Yang had always been unpredictable. Blake had constantly shown that she had strong feelings over specific issues. Jaune, though he was more into Pyrrha now, held an interest in Weiss as well. Pyrrha was the only one really accounted for, as she held her personal emotions locked up pretty well.

Weiss shook her head. "I-It's not just that. I'm skeptical about what they'll say and...I-I've never really been in a relationship," She said, conscious of the public space they were in, she lowered her voice. "I've been winging it this entire time, and while it has played out well, I don't know what to do about other people. Specifically Jaune and Yang."

Ruby nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm not too big on letting everyone know immediately," Ruby responded, and then cocked her head to the side, questioningly. "I get Jaune, but why Yang? She's just...y'know, Yang."

The other girl raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? She's so overprotective," Weiss commented, getting a little loud before quieting down again. "She's likely to rip my head off just for dating you. I can't imagine her taking it lightly."

She crossed her arms and tilted her head up, the way she often did when she was annoyed. Ruby frowned a little, but she reached over and placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. The girl looked back down, and Ruby smiled at her reassuringly.

"Well, we don't have to let them know immediately," She started. "We can wait however long we need to until we're comfortable. Until then...j-just keep affection low and hidden."

Weiss hesitated, though she was unsure why, and nodded, smiling back. "That seems fair," She responded. "Thank you, Ruby."

Just at hearing her own name from Weiss' mouth, Ruby bristled with pride. Her own smile grew and she stood finally. "No problem, Weiss! Now, we should get back to Beacon before it gets too late. We've got an extra day before break ends and everyone starts to come back." Ruby left out that it was possibly the last day that they could show their affection openly, as the idea was already there.

Weiss nodded once more and stood up, taking Ruby's hand in her own. "Indeed. If we head out now, we can catch the earliest airship back."

Together, they paid for their meals and left the cafe, hands clasped tightly together. The cold whipped at them, but the warmth the both of them were radiating subdued Mother Nature's advances, and they were on their way, back to Beacon.


	7. Chapter 7

The next day, Ruby woke up first. Early in the morning, close to maybe five or six, she rose up from Weiss' bed back in their own dorm like a zombie. They had gotten back way later than they'd initially expected and, after watching a short movie that Weiss had played from her phone, fallen asleep quickly.

Now, as the sun began its rise up into the sky once again, Ruby sat up from the bed, struggling just a little because Weiss was at her left side, her arms wrapped around the girl's midriff. Despite how much it took for her to get untangled from the girl, Ruby couldn't help but smile.

She finally managed to get out of bed and made her way into the bathroom. Once she turned the light on, though, she actually jumped at her own reflection in the mirror. Her hair, mostly black but red at the roots, looked like someone had taken a weed whacker to it. It stuck up and out at weird angles and probably added an extra three inches to her height because of how it looked.

Her skin was strangely red, and it felt raw when she brought a hand up to touch her cheek. Ruby reflexively pulled away, despite the fact that she hadn't felt much of anything. That, however, was on account of her hands and fingers being mostly numb. She brought both hands up to her face and flexed them around experimentally. They were moving, sure, but it was like a distant sensation that she couldn't quite remember properly.

Groaning, Ruby turned the cold water on in the bathroom sink. After waiting a moment, she took a handful of it and splashed herself in the face with it. it managed to pull her senses back into the world, and her hands did feel a bit more real afterward. She checked her reflection in the mirror again, only to find that she still looked a bit dead. She sighed again and, deciding she should just take a shower, walked back into the dorm room to grab her bathroom things. Once she had them, Ruby walked back into the bathroom and turned the shower on, messing with the dials on it until she'd reached the perfect temperature. A pleased sort of sigh escaped her as she stripped down and stepped underneath the steady flow of warm water, pretty much melting in pleasure as she did.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Weiss pulled herself out of bed, much slower and way less graceful than she was known for. For some odd reason, her head was spinning on her shoulders. Not literally, of course, because that'd be impossible, but it certainly felt like it was.

Groaning, she stood up, wobbling a bit, and straightened herself out. Her senses were a bit dulled, though she had no reason why, and it took her a minute to realize that the shower was on in the bathroom. Weiss suddenly remembered that she and Ruby had fallen asleep pretty late last night, attributing her lack of proper sense to that. It was the most logical conclusion, of course.

Weiss began to stretch, standing in between both bunks, to get her blood moving. She felt like a zombie, a look unfit for a Schnee, and felt she needed to fix it. Maybe she'd go for a jog today, maybe with a light exercise to follow... Ever since break started, she'd been slacking off when it came to her physique. Sure, she'd spent that time with Ruby, but she couldn't afford to just ignore her own body.

Nodding, satisfied with the idea of a workout, Weiss moved over to her belongings and prepared to get ready. She pondered, if only for a moment, whether or not she'd ask Ruby to go with her. After a mere second of thought, however, she quickly pushed the idea away. Her exercise isn't meant to be fun or enjoyable, it's a workout.

On top of that, today was the last day of break. Yang and Blake and all the others would be returning either late tonight or early the morning after. Weiss needed to get used to behaving around Ruby as she regularly would. That meant she'd have to stave the girl off for a bit, just so that she could regain her bearings on the real world and on Beacon itself.

Grabbing all of her things, spare clothing, towel, water bottle, her scroll, and other things, Weiss sat down to write out a short note for Ruby, so that she wouldn't get worried about where she'd gone. Ruby was known for taking long showers, so Weiss wasn't exactly pressed for time. She did, however, really want to start her workout. Sighing, she simply wrote, 'Gone for a workout. I'll be back in a few hours. Please, keep yourself entertained.' Satisfied, or at least as much as she could be with such simplicity, Weiss stuck the note up against the back of the dorm's door and quietly extricated herself from the room.

She briskly walked down the hall, toward the open gym, where she could jog for a bit. Pleased to see that it was empty, when she finally got there anyway, Weiss quickly put her things down in a safe place, changed into her proper workout attire-which consisted of yoga pants, a tank-top, and sneakers-and began her jog.

The gym was big, where most students usually held their own personal team battles, and it took a good eight minutes for Weiss to jog completely around it. She stuck close to the wall, listening to the sound of her sneakers scuffing against the waxed floor. She had wanted to play some music but felt that it'd be more of a hindrance than anything. That, and she left her earbuds upstairs in the dorm. Sighing away her frustration over the silence, she continued to jog for the next thirty minutes.

She wrapped her towel around her neck, breathing heavily as she collected her things all up together. She had been write with the idea that her body had gotten sluggish. One lap around the whole gym took her eight minutes. On a good day, she could finish it in five.

Brushing away her disappointment with herself, Weiss took her things and relocated to the 'other' gym. She herself tended not to use it, as she didn't like much of the company of other people while she was working out, but since the break was still going, Weiss wouldn't have to worry.

That is to say, not usually. She was surprised to see someone else in the gym when she got there. They had their back to Weiss, bent over while they sat on a simple bench. From what she could see, they looked to be doing arm curls, nothing too difficult, but with forty-five-pound dumbbells. Weiss herself never moved too far over twenty, maybe twenty-five if she felt like it.

After being stunned by the sheer strength of this person, Weiss started to notice other things. Black spats, red and gold sneakers, and a black tank-top. Crimson red hair, tied in a ponytail that drifted down, now her, back...

"Pyrrha?" Weiss asked, skeptical for some odd reason despite the fact that she knew it was her. Pyrrha perked up, putting down the dumbbell before turning around. Emerald eyes fell upon Weiss, and the girl smiled.

"Weiss! I didn't think I'd see you here." She exclaimed, standing up and waltzing over to greet her. Weiss nodded, a small smile finding it's way to her face. She had always been fond of 'The Invincible Girl'.

"I could say the same to you," Weiss responded calmly, holding onto her things. The rest of the room was empty. "How come you've come back early? I was sure I wouldn't see any of you until tonight, at the earliest."

A certain glint passed over Pyrrha's eyes. "Well, I missed my team and Beacon a lot. That, and the advertising agencies tend to swarm my family's home whenever I'm on break," She replied, a tinge of melancholy in her voice. "I just wanted to get away from that and get back into what I consider my regular life now."

Weiss nodded, understanding her position immediately. Replace the advertising agencies with her father's will and expectations and it was a perfect fit.

Tentatively, because she wasn't used to it, Weiss laid a hand on the taller girl's shoulder. "Well, don't worry about that now. You're back at Beacon, with your friends. It's certainly a place to get away to."

Pyrrha smiled, a small smile but genuine nonetheless, and nodded. "Thanks, Weiss. Well, I'll let you get back on to what you were doing. I'd hate to take up all of your time."

The girl stepped away and went back to sitting on the bench, picking up the dumbbell and picking up where she left off. Weiss herself moved to sit across from her, picking up a smaller dumbbell, just ten pounds, and began working on wrist movements. Fighting with a weapon like hers, most of her movement during battle was with the wrist, so she tended to work that out a bit.

They were silent for a moment, Pyrrha doing her hard arm curls and Weiss with her small wrist curls. Pyrrha picked up conversation again, however, when she set down the dumbbell and picked up a sixty-pound one instead.

"So, did you come back early as well, or did you stay here for the break?" Pyrrha asked, hefting the dumbbell onto her knee before she started. Weiss was awed, watching her handle the weight. She wasn't physically strong herself, and it made her own curls feel insignificant.

Nonetheless, she didn't allow it to show. "I stayed over break. Much needed study time with everyone gone," She replied, hastily adding; "Everyone except Ruby, I mean."

Pyrrha cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. "Ruby stayed behind? I assumed her and Yang would be off to Patch."

Weiss shook her head, remembering the ordeal on the first day of break. "I assumed that as well. But, she insisted on staying behind to keep me 'company'," Weiss replied in a mock imitation of the girl's voice. "Honestly, she can be such a dolt sometimes. I'd have preferred it if she'd spent the time with her family instead of with me." Even as she spoke, a smile graced Weiss' face. She couldn't lie to herself. Not effectively, anyway.

Pyrrha caught sight of the smile, but she said nothing. A smile fell upon her as well, though she didn't pick up on the situation completely. "I think it was nice of her to think of you like that. If anyone would, it'd be Ruby. She's got such a caring heart." The crimson-haired girl replied.

A slight tinge of blush crept across her face, and Weiss nodded. "Yes, it certainly was. It's irrelevant now, anyway. Break ends tomorrow, and classes resume the day after that. Everyone will be back then."

Pyrrha nodded, a bit of mirth in her movements now. "Yea, I can't wait to get back into the swing of things. It feels like it's been forever!" She exclaimed. Weiss smiled and swapped out her dumbbell for a slightly heavier one.

"Yes, it does seem like it..." She replied, albeit quietly. Time flew being around Ruby, she supposed.

They carried on with their workouts for an hour after that, occasionally helping each other out when needed. When Weiss needed a spot for her squats, Pyrrha eagerly helped her out. Likewise, Weiss did the same, though for much smaller tasks.

At the end of it, the both of them were exhausted and covered in sweat, as they should be after a workout. Together, they walked back up to their rooms. Pyrrha separated off first after a wave and a 'goodbye' to Weiss, and the girl was left walking the rest of the way down the hall.

Most of her workout centered around her arms and legs. Core and back were important too, just not as much with her specific fighting style. Her legs hurt, and all she wanted was to take a hot shower and collapse into her bed.

Putting her hand up against Team RWBY's dorm door, she sighed before pushing it open. It was quiet inside, though she could clearly see Ruby sitting on top of her bunk. Her scroll was held close to her face, her tongue out and her brow furrowed in concentration. She didn't notice Weiss immediately, but when she did, she paused her game and sat up.

"Welcome back, Weiss!" She exclaimed though she didn't move from her spot. Odd. "I found your note and decided to wait out for you. Your workout go alright?"

Weiss nodded, a yawn slipping through her teeth. "It went fine. Pyrrha came back early today, I met up with her in the gym." Weiss replied. Ruby perked up, jumping down from the bed.

"Really?! That's so cool! I'm gonna go say hi to her now, if you don't mind." Ruby said. Weiss, smiling, just nodded her head and shooed her off.

"I don't mind at all. Go ahead, I need to shower really quickly." The ivory-haired girl said. Ruby, positively beaming, dashed out of the room in a flash of rose petals. Weiss was left smiling, and reached out to grab a petal before it could disappear. It was soft, velvet-like, and was warm. It reminded her of the boisterous girl that had left it behind.

Still smiling like an idiot, Weiss made her way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She couldn't stay sweaty forever, after all.


	8. Chapter 8

After Weiss had finished showering, she'd spent the remains of the night with Ruby. Ruby had persuaded her to try out a board game that she'd never played -Monopoly- and had immediately regretted the situation. Weiss was a natural, though she wasn't sure why she hadn't expected as much.

In just under fifteen minutes, Weiss had bankrupted Ruby and taken most of the property spaces on the board. Ruby, depressed though slightly impressed, was forced to surrender and Weiss won the game.

With victory tucked under Weiss's arm, the two of them climbed up onto Weiss's bed, cuddling together before falling asleep. Their last day of break would be upon them when they woke up.

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Surprisingly, both Weiss and Ruby woke up together the next morning. Yang and Blake weren't back yet, like Weiss assumed they'd be, so it seemed they had what appeared to be another full day together.

"Do you want to do something?" Ruby asked her, stifling a yawn as she leaned against the other girl for support. Both of them were sitting on the edge of Weiss' bed, both fighting off the equally annoying clutches of fatigue. Weiss was handling it better, only succumbing to a yawn every couple minutes or so. Ruby was quite clearly losing. She could barely keep her eyes open, and every time she opened her mouth to talk, she started yawning instead. It was almost as if the world itself was just telling her to go back to sleep.

Weiss shrugged. Currently, she had her scroll in her hand, flipping through local news articles about things to do.

"I wouldn't be opposed. If you wanted to I'd enjoy going with you," She replied with a coy glance over at Ruby before she continued to scroll through the articles. The brunette didn't notice it, nodding and standing up. She began to stretch before giving up almost immediately and instead walked toward the bathroom.

"That'd be cool. Maybe we could just...I dunno, walk around?" Ruby ventured. Weiss looked up at her with an eyebrow raised before slowly nodding her head.

"I suppose that's...fair. I'll see if I can't use another shower so we can make the most of our time." Weiss replied. Dropping her scroll onto her bed, Weiss stood up and stretched out her arms and legs. Her hair was still let down, cascading over her back, and she was beginning to remember just why she left it in its ponytail all the time. It was annoying.

Ruby nodded, her usual grin finding it's way to her face. She darted around the room, much faster than Weiss would've expected her to do so what with how exhausted she'd looked, collecting her things up and then stopping in front of the bathroom door once again. The ivory-haired girl rolled her eyes, but a small smile found it's way to her face regardless.

Picking up her things like a normal person, Weiss and Ruby shared a quick, chaste, kiss before the two broke away to go their separate ways.

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Thankfully, JNPR were getting ready to leave just as Weiss exited the dorm room. They let her use their bathroom, with the promise that she'd shut the door completely after she was done, and they left on their way to breakfast. Once Jaune came back from break, they would be just as they were before. What a horrifying thought.

Weiss wasted no time, getting into the shower quickly as the downpour of just-right water began to flow from the faucet. Washing her hair always took the longest, so she did that first. The shampoo that she usually used was lavender-scented, and the moment she let it low into her hand, the smooth aroma put a smile on her face.

Normally Weiss liked to listen to music while she was showering, but unfortunately, she'd left her scroll in her dorm room.

'No matter,' She thought, letting the warm water rinse through her hair. 'It won't make much a difference, as long as I finish.'

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Ruby stepped out of the bathroom and into team RWBY's dorm, a towel laid over her head to help dry her hair out faster. There was a faint smell of strawberries -the shampoo and body wash that she used being strawberry scented- and the brunette reveled in it as she jumped up onto her bed to pull her scroll from beneath her pillow.

Weiss wasn't back yet, but that was okay. Ruby knew that her showers were always longer because of how hard it was to wash all of her hair. It was the same for Yang, who was way more protective over her head of luscious locks. Ruby and Blake had always made jokes about it together.

A frown found it's way to her face as she began to think about Yang and Blake, who were bound to be back later that day or early tomorrow morning. She and Weiss had agreed to keep their relationship on the low, but she couldn't stand not being able to tell Yang something. She was her sister, of all people! The more she thought about it, the more upset it made her

The door to the room clicked open, and Weiss walked in, a towel in her hand wrapped around her hair. Ruby barely registered her entrance until the ivory-haired girl stood just next to her, looking up with concern filling her eyes.

"Ruby?" She asked, tilting her head in question. "What's on your mind?"

Ruby peered down at her and smiled. The idea that Weiss was her girlfriend was still a marvel, even after the last few days. Jumping down to the floor, she lightly elbowed Weiss and smiled.

"Oh, nothin', just a passing thought," Ruby stuffed her scroll into her pocket. "Ready to go?"

Weiss hesitated, clearly put off about whatever it was Ruby was thinking about. Regardless, she let it go and smiled.

"Yes. Do you want to grab breakfast before we go, or shall we eat out?" Weiss asked her. For some reason, an old joke that Yang had made found it's way into Ruby's head. She blushed, though unsure why, and nodded.

"We can eat here. That way, we've got more time to just...walk around." She responded. Nodding, Weiss made her way to the door with Ruby following, and they were off to the cafeteria to eat.

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After a fairly uneventful breakfast, the only thing really happening being Ren and Nora finally explaining things to Pyrrha, who congratulated Ruby and Weiss to near ridiculous levels, the red and white duo were off into the snow and on their way to Vale.

Walking down the street, hand in hand, both girls found that their minds were cluttered with questions and thoughts. In Ruby's were the ever-prevalent, Should we tell the others? I feel like we should, What will they think if we do tell them? I don't want Weiss to be uncomfortable about it..., Would she be embarrassed if everyone knew? I don't want to make her feel that way...,

Weiss's thoughts were similar. Did I make the right choice in deciding to keep our relationship a secret? What will the others think about us? Would it be fair to try and keep this a secret after telling Blake that she wasn't allowed to do the same? How would Yang react?

She shivered, directing Ruby's attention to her. It could've been the cold, sure, but Weiss never really felt the cold as much as others did. Ruby elbowed her, and Weiss looked over, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Ruby asked, a concerned look in her eye. It occurred to Weiss to say it was nothing like Ruby had done earlier. In the end, though, she refused to do it and just sighed.

"Admittedly, I believe we shouldn't have made the promise that we made beforehand," Weiss said in response. Ruby tilted her head in question, and Weiss rolled her eyes, though she smiled while doing it. "To keep our relationship a secret, Ruby. Maybe...maybe we shouldn't do that."

A blush ran across Ruby's face, but she smiled and nodded. "Yea, to be honest, I was thinking the same," They walked on, and Ruby kicked snow over with her boots. "Yang has never really taken secrets too well. Plus, there was that thing with Blake...,"

Weiss nodded in agreement. "Yes, I thought of that as well," A moment of silence as Weiss gathered her thoughts. "I-I know that I'd be nervous to have everyone, including your sister, know of our relationship but...but it's for the better that they do know. We are a team, after all. We have to trust each other."

Ruby nodded along, a joyous smile on her face. Honestly, she thought she'd have to do a lot to persuade Weiss into breaking the promise. Sometimes, though, it was a bit difficult for Ruby to remember that Weiss was way more mature than she was. Apparently, that came with being a year older.

"I'm happy to hear you say that," Ruby replied, affectionately nuzzling her way into Weiss's neck. The girl in question sputtered and turned a deadly shade of red in the face, but she did nothing to stop her. She may have even smiled a bit. "Because Yang called me earlier after I got out of the shower, she'll be back in a few hours."

Weiss sputtered back to life. "In a few hours? How long is that exactly?" Ruby shrugged, giving her that sheepish grin she was known for.

"I dunno. Three or four, maybe? The shuttles to and from Patch aren't very fast, so it could be five too." She replied. Weiss squinted her eyes at her, and Ruby shrugged again, laughing nervously.

Gods, I can't be mad at her when she looks like that. She's too cute. Weiss thought. Sure enough, after a moment, she sighed and her facade of anger left her completely.

"Well, I suppose that's enough time as it is," Weiss stated, continuing to walk. Ruby had to speed up a bit to catch up to her, especially in the snow. It was still a bit thick on the ground and, as such, was hard to walk through.

"W-wait!" Ruby called out before catching up and taking hold of Weiss's hand again. The aforementioned girl raised an eyebrow in question. "E-enough time for what?"

Weiss smiled coyly and continued walking, waiting until they'd gotten to the end of the street to answer her.

She turned to Ruby and, in a fit of brash confidence that she'd probably never have again, pulled her into a rather deep kiss. Ruby was surprised at first and flailed around a bit to gain her bearings. Once she did, she took hold of the fur-lined collar of Weiss's coat to steady herself. Likewise, Weiss had Ruby's face cupped in her hands, her own face flushed just from the sheer insanity at what she was doing.

Deepening the kiss, Weiss pulled Ruby closer to her, snaking her arms around the younger girl's neck. Ruby was in bliss, thinking that Weiss would never venture this far, especially not in public. The brunette grew daring, though. She pushed the tip of her tongue just against the other girl's lips, but just as she did, Weiss pulled away. Ruby's legs nearly gave out, but thanks to her hands tightly clenching onto Weiss's coat, she managed to stay standing.

Both girls' faces were extremely red, and both were panting from the effort that it took just to think properly now. Weiss untangled her arms from around Ruby's neck and instead grasped her hands tightly. Leaning in, she pecked her girlfriend on the lips once more.

"Enough time to spoil and shower you in affection." She stated calmly. Ruby thought she heard a tinge of seduction in her voice, and it made hearing her voice sooo much better.

Not trusting herself to talk and with her face as red as the tips of her hair, Ruby simply nodded and clenched Weiss's hands in response. Suddenly, three or four hours seemed like it wouldn't be enough time for Ruby.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, after getting coffee, hot chocolate in Ruby's case, in Vale, the girl's had gone back to Beacon to enjoy the last two or three hours they had before Ruby's boisterous older sister came back.

They'd thought of a lot of different things they could do. Ren and Nora helped move a TV from the lounge into team RWBY's dorm. Loading up on a ton of action games that Ruby was sure Weiss would love, they spent the first hour playing video games. Much to Ruby's pleasure, Weiss loved the games. She wasn't big on the violence, but she was good at them and they were fun.

After that, Weiss offered to teach Ruby about makeup. The brunette had never really looked too much into it herself, mainly because Yang and their dad had always defended her from doing so. Weiss, however, was pretty much a master. In just ten minutes, Weiss had managed to pull together the most flattering shades of red and pink for Ruby's lips, cheeks, and eyeshadow. Her lashes were pulled out about as long as Weiss's always were, and she'd topped it all off a pair of shining red earrings that Weiss herself had never worn.

Apparently, though, it seemed that Weiss had done too good of a job. What with how red Ruby's lips were, she just couldn't help herself.

The next twenty minutes were spent ruining the makeup that Weiss had just put on her, but neither of them minded that at all.

Next, Weiss promised she'd let Ruby brush her hair, and vice versa. Truly, Weiss was nervous about it. The only person aside from herself who had ever touched her hair had been Winter, and that was when they were young. Nowadays, she managed it by herself and, what with how choppy Ruby's hair looked sometimes, she didn't know whether or not the girl could even brush it properly.

Weiss sat down on the floor and pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Ruby gathered it all up gingerly, as if it were a bomb, and laid it all against her lap, where she sat cross-legged on the bed behind Weiss. Taking the brush, Ruby took small sections of her hair and brushed it out, softly and with as much care as she could pack into it. Weiss ended up melting into it, what with how smooth it felt and how good Ruby was at it.

Ruby was humming as she worked, taking each section up in one hand and delicately running the brush's bristles through it before moving on. It took a while, maybe twenty-five minutes, because of how much hair Weiss had and because of how slowly she was moving. The ivory-haired girl nearly fell asleep from pure comfort, but once Ruby was done, they switched positions.

Sitting up on the bed, her feet touching the floor and Ruby sitting between her legs, facing Blake's bed, Weiss worked on Ruby's hair next. It didn't take nearly as long, but Weiss tried to be as delicate and careful as Ruby had done with her hair. Weiss was surprised to learn just how soft Ruby's hair actually was. She knew that Ruby washed her hair regularly, but she'd never really taken too much care of it, never brushing or combing it at all.

Still, it was extremely soft and it made brushing her hair out all that much easier. She found that Ruby's hair had a lingering smell of strawberries on it, most likely because her shampoo was strawberry scented, as everything she owned usually was, and it brought a blush up to her face, though she couldn't answer as to why. Brushing through Ruby's hair only took about five minutes, leaving them with practically no time until Yang was due back.

Weiss and Ruby got prepared, cleaning up the entire dorm room, and then relaxing up on Ruby's bed. Weiss laid up against the headboard, reading from her scroll, while Ruby was curled up on her side, her head in Weiss's lap, playing a game on her scroll. Weiss's spare hand was open on the side of Ruby's head, gently massaging her scalp with her fingers. Ruby's was wrapped around Weiss's waist, though she still managed to reach her scroll with both hands.

In the silence that surrounded them, Weiss's thoughts wandered, her eyes drifting away from what she'd been caught up reading. The last few hours with Ruby had been...well, to say great would be an understatement. The week itself may have been the best week of her life, and it was all because of the little brunette girl laying next to her.

She scoffed silently. Why was she ever nervous about the others knowing? She cared about Ruby, maybe more than she cared about herself, there was no reason to worry about it at all.

"Ruby," Weiss whispered, just to keep quiet. She put her scroll down on the bed just as the other girl looked up at her, eyebrows raised questioningly. Weiss beckoned her with her finger, and Ruby dropped her scroll to scoot closer, to where her head was in the crook of Weiss's neck. A sigh of relief left Weiss's mouth before she leaned over to peck Ruby on the lips. Smiling and blushing all the like, Ruby returned it, pecking her right back. It turned into a bit of a game, going back and forth before Ruby took it a step further, climbing up and straddling Weiss's waist to lean down and press a soft, but long, kiss onto her lips.

Her face hitched up several shades of red, but Weiss wasn't the type of person to lay down and accept defeat. Sitting up as much as she could, she looped her arms around Ruby's neck and pulled her in, forcing a deeper kiss on her lips. Ruby's hands fell onto the bed on either side of her to keep herself steady, and she returned the kiss with fervor.

This time, as Ruby pushed her tongue against her girlfriend's lips, Weiss opened her mouth and welcomed her in. Their tongues squirmed against each other, fighting for dominance that was yet to be seen. Weiss's hands fell to Ruby's waist and, after a moment, pushed slowly up underneath her shirt. A shiver ran through Ruby's body, but it only made her push deeper into the kiss.

Slender hands ran over a toned and muscular abdomen. Weiss never really thought about how strong Ruby was. Handling Crescent Rose the way she did, it made sense. Still, the fact that this girl, who was a year younger and just the same height as her, had a six pack that felt like chiseled stone. It made her face burn slightly brighter, but it didn't really affect much of anything.

Ruby's hands clenched at the covers, her knuckles going white from the strain of it. Every time Weiss's hands roamed underneath her shirt, a shock ran through her. Part of her was surprised that she'd even gone so far, and another part never wanted it to stop.

Instead of balancing herself on her palms, Ruby brought a knee up to steady herself instead, never breaking the kiss as she did. Now, with her hands free, she followed Weiss's example and roamed them down the other girl's hips, caressing them before slowly sliding her hands up beneath the girl's shirt. Weiss jumped a little, though it only served to deepen their kiss. Ruby's teeth grazed her lip, bringing her into a whole new world of sensations that she didn't even know existed.

Weiss ventured higher, her hands finding themselves just above Ruby's six-pack. She was nervous about going further up, and instead looped her hands around Ruby's back to pull her body closer. In the process, Ruby's knee jabbed softly into the inside of Weiss's thigh, bringing some...rather lewd thoughts to her head.

Hands roaming further up, until they were just beneath Weiss's chest, Ruby leaned into the kiss, lingering before finally pulling away, panting and out of breath. Weiss was left in a similar state, looking up at Ruby with a flushed face. Likewise, Ruby's face was flushed just as deeply, and she was caught staring down at Weiss with half-lidded eyes, lost in a state of pleasure.

A low knock sounded through the room. It wasn't the sound of someone knocking on the door; Rather it was the sound of the door knocking against the wall of the room. It was already open, and standing in the doorway, half-way into the room with bags in her hands, was Yang.

It took all of them a minute to realize just what position they were in. There was Yang, just coming back from vacation with her things, expecting to see her little sister and teammate. Then there was Ruby, caught up waiting for her older sister only to be caught with her hands up her new girlfriend's shirt and straddling her waist. Weiss, lying beneath Ruby with her hands underneath and around her shirt as the aforementioned girl's knee ground into her thigh. It was all a very...compromising state.

Yang grinned, though it was clearly forced. Dropping her bags next to the door, she shot both of them a series of finger guns and slowly backed out of the room, almost as if it had never happened in the first place. She shut the door behind her, leaving Ruby and Weiss to pick themselves up and, just maybe, find some way to redeem the situation. They very well knew there wasn't one, though.

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Blake raised an eyebrow as Yang backpedaled out of the room. Her bags were starting to get heavy, and despite the fact that she'd missed her partner's antics, she could really use a nap.

"Yang, why didn't you just go in?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. The bow atop her head tilted. Yang pulled the door shut immediately, and her grin fell from her face immediately. She started to fan her own face.

"It's really hot in there," She said, sounding as if she was at a loss of breath. "I think Weiss and Ruby found a heater and they left it on high."

"So they aren't in there?" Blake asked, dropping her bags. She was much too tired to want to carry them any longer.

Yang hesitated before standing up straight. "Nope. They must be off doing something else. Maybe Weiss is forcing her to study down in the library," She ventured. It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of it, rather than Blake. "That's happened a couple times in the past."

Blake didn't plan on commenting how she could clearly hear movement in the dorm through the wall; faunus traits and all. She decided to let Yang play whatever game she was up to.

Shrugging, Blake pushed her bags closer to the door.

"Oh well, that's unfortunate," She deadpanned, crossing her arms. "Wanna go get something to eat from the cafeteria?"

Yang smiled, sticking her hands into her pockets. "Oh, yea. I'm famished," She began walking off down the hall, and Blake followed. "Let's go get some grub."

As they walked down the hall, Blake's faunus ears twitched underneath her bow, and she picked up a bit more noise from inside their dorm. She couldn't tell what it was, only that it sounded...wet? That was odd. She ignored it and kept walking, her hands intertwined in front of her. Maybe she'd figure it out later.

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Back in the dorm room, now as collected as they could possibly be after an event like that, Weiss and Ruby sat together on top of Ruby's bed. Ruby was kicking her feet back and forth, as she often did, while Weiss was leaning forward with her head in her hands. They'd cleaned up, though Ruby's bed was the only thing in the room that was less than clean, and both of them had decided to fix their own appearance as well.

Ruby was dressed now in a pair of black jeans and the same red sweater that she pretty much always wore. Her cape was lying on the bed next to her, in wait. Weiss wore a white skirt, light blue leggings underneath, and a sweater of the same shade of blue.

Both their faces were still ridiculously red, the embarrassment from being caught in such a position still playing fresh in their minds. By Yang! Of all people! They knew she was the one coming back, but things had...gotten out of hand. Both Ruby and Weiss were thinking the exact same thing, but nothing would take away that seething, burning feeling in their chests.

The silence became unnerving, and Ruby had to say something.

"So...," She started, her feet falling still. She got a sheepish grin on her face. "I-I guess that means we don't have to tell Yang?"

Weiss glanced up at her, a smile playing at her lips, though she was still very much lost in her own embarrassment.

"Because she already knows?" Weiss ventured. "Yes, I'd assume it'd be painfully obvious after our little...display, there."

Ruby's own face hitched up a few shades and she went to rub at the back of her neck nervously.

"Y-Yea, exactly," Ruby replied, kneading her hands together. "M-Maybe we'd have to explain it to Blake, whenever she gets back, b-but Yang is taken care of."

Nodding in agreement, Weiss jumped down to the floor and smoothed out her skirt.

"Well, you aren't wrong there," She commented, looking up at Ruby. The brunette realized just how much she loved staring into those pools of electric blue, and she jumped down as well. "M-maybe we should think up a way to tell her, then."

Ruby mouthed out an 'oh!' and lunged forward to grab Weiss's hand, intertwining their fingers together. Weiss's face jumped to a shade of red, and she raised an eyebrow in question. Ruby held their hands up as her response.

"It's really obvious this way!" She told her, smiling as she did. "If she sees us with our hands like this, then it's kinda easy, right?"

Weiss opened her mouth to try and poke holes into her idea, but found that she couldn't. It was rather simple, but if it worked, then it worked.

"Right, then," Weiss replied, clenching her hand appreciatively. "Should we go eat then? It's been a few hours since we've had anything to eat."

Smiling, Ruby enthusiastically nodded and bounded toward the door, dragging Weiss alongside her. The white-haired girl muttered a few curses, but she couldn't stop the large smile that came to her face as they ran out the door and down the hall, on their way to the cafeteria.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It seemed break was officially over now, as the couple danced their way into the cafeteria, hand in hand, only to be met with all of their friends back and at the usual table. The majority of JNPR already knew, and Yang had clued herself in. With this, though, this new discovery by both Jaune and Blake, they'd found a much more accepting environment than they ever could have expected.

Yang, being the older sister she was, made a few lighthearted threats, but it was all in good fun, as it always was. Ruby and Weiss kept their hands above the table, refusing absolutely to let go of the other. Blake offered a few affectionate comments and, when no one else was listening, told them they should probably learn to keep a bit quieter. Her ears twitched as she said it, and both girls took it as an omen.

Jaune openly apologized to Weiss, for his constant obsessings and his never-ending advances. Weiss took it with a laugh and told him it was alright and, with a glance toward Pyrrah, told him he should focus elsewhere. Whether or not he picked up on it, she couldn't tell. It was extremely implied, though.

Nora was loud, as she always was, and Ren was her quiet bodyguard who knew when to settle her down. Their own relationship lied in secret, but Weiss and Ruby still knew. Blake had her suspicions, and maybe with the current reveal, they'd be confident enough to reveal sooner or later as well.

Lunch ended much faster than any of them expected. Announcements instructed that classes would resume soon, and both teams RWBY and JNPR went their own ways, back to their dorms. Technically it was the same way, since they were down the hall from one another, but still different ways.

Ruby and Weiss laid back, far behind the rest of their friends, to simply enjoy each other's presence. Hands still together, they walked on with Weiss's head on Ruby's shoulder. Acceptance was a blessing that the both of them were happy to find in their friends. Why they doubted it at all, they couldn't answer. They were just...happy, in the end. That was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I've gotten this entire thing reuploaded, I'm gonna start going into new writing projects and all. Specifically, I wanna write some things for My Hero Academia. It's a good show, and I like it a lot. Look out for any of that if you actually enjoy my writing. Hope you enjoyed this story if it's for your first reading it.
> 
> Stay tuned for more, Dantikat out.


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